Another day, another alarmist mainstream dino-media headline about the nation’s housing market. (Hat tip: Free Republic)

Hmm… does this sound like the sky is falling to you (my bolding)?

The price of existing homes sold in October fell for the third straight month and posted the biggest drop on record, an industry group said Tuesday, adding it expects weakness in pricing to drag on into next year.

The National Association of Realtors said that the median price of a home sold in October was $221,000, the same as in September, but down 3.5 percent from October 2005.

…

Pat Vredevoogd Combs, a Grand Rapids, Mich., Realtor and president of the trade group, said in a statement that the market has become a good one for buyers.

“With the exception of parts of the West, sellers are cutting their price enough to encourage sales,” she said. A sharp drop in sales and prices in once-hot markets such as Washington D.C. and parts of Florida, coupled with improved sales in some lower-price markets in Texas, have driven median prices down 7 percent in the South.

So let me get this straight: homes currently being sold are selling somewhere around 4% less than they did at this time a year ago. And, because of the drop in prices and the expected continued softness of the housing market, there’ll be more opportunity for people to get into real estate as an investment, thereby increasing the number of available properties for rent, which in turn should make the rental market more competitive for prospective renters.

…This after several years of record-breaking increases in the value of existing homes almost everywhere across the board.

And we’re all supposed to be freaking out over this? Here, let me open up my window on the 72nd floor so I can take a flying leap.

You know, I just love it whenever the liberal media goes postal over housing prices. Regardless of the fact that more people are owning homes – and, in fact, multiple homes – than any time in our history, regardless of the fact that over time (and granted, depending on where you live, it can sometimes take a long time) real estate is a proven performer investment-wise, and regardless of the fact it is a healthy thing for the economy to have the occasional correction in housing prices, there’s always some liberal publication proclaiming that the sky is falling and we’re all doomed.

And USA Today is the absolute poster-child for this worst kind of hand-wringing. You’ve seen howthe story goes: when housing prices are on the increase, the paper is filled with sob stories of the sacrifices and choices people have to make because prices are so high, and how they can no longer afford to live in the communities they grew up in. When prices fall, you get sob stories of people who are stuck in their homes because they can’t afford to sell because of falling prices. It may sell papers, but it’s all total bull$hit.

I’m not the only one who sees this kind of story for what it really is. I love this comment from “Freeper” Hydroshock:

“My home tripled in value (?) in just a few years and now I’m supposed to freak out because it lost 3 1/2% in one year?”

Yesiree, run for the hills, everyone – the sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Oh wait, a second, maybe it’s not….