New York City Real Estate: If It Double-Dips Here, Can It Double-Dip Anywhere?

Is New York City in for another drop in real estate prices? That's one interpretation of the most recent Case-Shiller numbers, which analyze the health of residential real estate.

The prediction, by hedge fund manager Bruce Krasting, claims a drop in consumer spending will be the outcome of the stalled housing market.

It's not all that surprising a prediction, given that a double-dip in the housing market, as well as a double-dip recession was discussed by uber-prognosticator Meredith Whitney in an appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box two weeks ago.

Both Krasting and Whitney have pointed to the fact that a good number of the people whose homes have defaulted on their mortgage are waiting out the foreclosure process, which, in New York, can go on for up to two years. In the meantime, they have not been paying a mortgage.

"There is substantial evidence," Krasting writes, "that these people are buying iPhones and going on vacation with the money they are saving by not paying the debt."