It is truly a sad state of affairs when an extension of a housing tax credit, super- low interest rates and the incursion of the Fed balance sheet into the mortgage market all translate into a down housing backdrop. The NAHB index fell for the second month in a row, to 15 in January from 16 in December, 17 in November and the nearby high of 19 in September, which takes the headline down to June 2009 levels. In fact, this is the fourth lowest reading ever. What was really striking was the dip in the ‘prospective buyer traffic’ sub-index to 12 from 13 – the lowest this has been since last March when everyone seemed to think the world was coming to an end.