Housing Outlook
Confirming what home buyers suspected and real estate sales figures have indicated for months, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday that the U.S. housing market was showing clear signs of cooling off.
Bernanke said the slowdown is "moderate" and "orderly" and pointed to the overall strength of the economy.
"We're seeing slowing in sales, slowing in starts. There also seem to be signs that prices are not rising as quickly as they have been for the past few years," Bernanke said in response to questions after a speech in Chicago, Bloomberg News reported.
His comments came as Freddie Mac announced that the average rate on a 30-year, fixed mortgage hit 6.6 percent this week, the highest in almost four years. Rising long-term rates have contributed to the housing industry's slowdown. The Commerce Department this week said construction of new homes fell 7.4 percent in April, to an annualized pace of 1.85 million homes. It was the third straight monthly decline.
Bernanke said the slowdown is "moderate" and "orderly" and pointed to the overall strength of the economy.
"We're seeing slowing in sales, slowing in starts. There also seem to be signs that prices are not rising as quickly as they have been for the past few years," Bernanke said in response to questions after a speech in Chicago, Bloomberg News reported.
His comments came as Freddie Mac announced that the average rate on a 30-year, fixed mortgage hit 6.6 percent this week, the highest in almost four years. Rising long-term rates have contributed to the housing industry's slowdown. The Commerce Department this week said construction of new homes fell 7.4 percent in April, to an annualized pace of 1.85 million homes. It was the third straight monthly decline.
posted by Dan Forbes at
1:41 PM
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