I highlighted about a month ago a prediction from economist Robert Shiller that suburban housing values may not recover anytime soon. Shiller made another prediction this past week that is even more dire:

The housing market is likely to remain weak and may take a generation or more to rebound, Yale economics professor Robert Shiller told Reuters Insider on Tuesday.

Shiller, the co-creator of the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, said a weak labor market, high gas prices and a general sense of unease among consumers was outweighing low mortgage rates and would likely keep a lid on prices for the foreseeable future.

“I worry that we might not see a really major turnaround in our lifetimes,” Shiller said.

Shiller is the most pessimistic prognosticator about the housing market I’ve seen. Is this earning him credibility or scorn?

By the way, is there any academic or impartial observer who keeps track of such predictions? I thought about this during the NFL draft: think how many hours and days were wasted coming up with mock drafts that are based on one-seventh of the draft and often have mistakes. What is the same number of hours and days was devoted to trying to predict the outcome of the US housing market in the coming months and years – would the predictions get any better?