It’s a rough housing market out there, folks

A drop in preowned home sales in December was the cherry on top of the worst year for the U.S. housing market since 1995. We’ll get into the causes of the slump and what it would take for the housing market to get back on track. And, a tax deal that would expand the child tax credit is gaining momentum. Then, we’ll play a round of Half Full/Half Empty!

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• • “Strong bipartisan showing in first test of tax deal’s support” from Roll Call

• • “Mars Express finds evidence of large water deposit at the Medusae Fossae Formation” from Phys.org

• • “What Is an Assumable Mortgage?” Buy Side from The Wall Street Journal

• • “US Existing-Home Sales Decline to Cap Worst Year Since 1995” from Bloomberg

• • “Expect restaurants to go all in on breakfast this year” from Marketplace

• • ‘”Super shoes” take their place in the $50B running shoe market” from Marketplace

• • “Can robots make us less lonely?” from Marketplace

• • “It doesn’t take a Mathlete to know a “Mean Girls” remake adds up for Hollywood” from Marketplace

• • “What happens when a school bans smartphones? A complete transformation” from The Guardian

We love to hear from you. Send your questions and comments to makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.