NEW YORK (PNN) - June 14, 2011 - It's official: The housing crisis that began in 2006 and has recently entered a double dip is now worse than the Great Depression.

Prices have fallen some 33% since the market began its collapse, greater than the 31% fall that began in the late 1920s and culminated in the early 1930s, according to Case-Shiller data.

The news comes as the Federal Reserve considers whether the economy has regained enough strength to stand on its own and as unemployment remains at a still-elevated 9.1%, indicating the United States remains mired in what is rapidly becoming regarded as the Second Great Depression.

"The sharp fall in house prices in the first quarter provided further confirmation that this housing crash has been larger and faster than the one during the Great Depression," wrote Paul Dales, senior economist at Capital Economics in Toronto, in research for clients.

According to Case-Shiller, which provides the most closely followed housing industry data, prices dropped 1.9% in the first quarter, a move the firm interpreted as a clear double dip in prices.

Moreover, Dales said prices likely have not completed their downturn.