occupies center stage as a culprit in the recent global financial crisis. but the second great contraction is far from unique in that regard. in the earlier work, we documented the trajectory in real housing prices around all the post world war 2 banking crises in advanced economies, with particular emphasis on the "big five" crises. the pattern that emerges is clear: a boom in real housing price in the run-up to a crisis is followed by a marked decline in the year of the crisis and subsequent years.