There's justice, and then there's poetic justice. Whether or not you blame Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for the current woes of our financial system, it's good to know that he's not immune from the plummeting housing market. Not at all. The Fed chief has a four-bedroom townhouse in Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Hill area that he bought in May 2004 -- near the peak of the real estate market. He paid $839,000.
After enjoying a brief run-up in market value to over $1 million, the recession happened (and a little something with interest rates, remember that, Ben?) and now, according to estimates, the house is worth only... $840,000. Homes in Bernanke's neighborhood seem to have peaked in value in 2005, and have since fallen -- though only a few percentage points this year, down to a median of $545,000 from $550,000 in third quarter 2007.
