<Li> List of banks acquired or bankrupted during the Great Recession </Li> <Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The United States housing bubble was a real estate bubble affecting over half of the U.S. states . Housing prices peaked in early 2006, started to decline in 2006 and 2007, and reached new lows in 2012 . On December 30, 2008, the Case--Shiller home price index reported its largest price drop in its history . The credit crisis resulting from the bursting of the housing bubble is--according to general consensus--an important cause of the 2007--2009 recession in the United States . </P>

What caused the real estate bubble to burst