Even higher-end homebuilders such as Toll Brothers ( TOL ) haven't enjoyed the success that luxury-shopping retailers have seen. Regardless of some of the positive news about the economy in recent months, one stark fact underscores the fragility of the recovery: Home prices have refused to rebound from their huge losses. The deflationary spiral In many ways, what's happening in the housing market is exactly what policymakers such as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner have feared for the economy as a whole.