Ya, but Sec. Paulson says we are AT or NEAR the housing bottom..
LOL!!! How can you say the bottom is here with the growing inventory, increasing rates, tighter lending standards, and massive foreclosures and even more are predicted.
Paulson: Housing ‘at or near bottom’
But Treasury secretary gives no timetable for recovery; says financial markets remain healthy despite subprime mortgage mess.
July 2 2007: 4:40 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Monday the U.S. housing market correction was “at or near the bottom,” although it could be some time before an upturn.
“In terms of looking at housing, most of us believe that it’s at or near the bottom,” he told Reuters. “It’s had a significant impact on the economy. No one is forecasting when, with any degree of clarity, that the upturn is going to come other than it’s at or near the bottom.”
ECONOMY
Paulson added that global economic growth remains solid, and a resilient U.S. consumer and strong labor markets are underpinning the domestic economy.
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“We are making this transition successfully (from) a growth rate that wasn’t sustainable to one that is sustainable,” Paulson said.
Asked about any spillover from the well-publicized problems in the subprime mortgage sector, Paulson acknowledged that excesses can build in benign economic periods with ample liquidity, which can lead to an erosion of standards.
“We’ve certainly seen it in a number of areas. Borrowers need to be wary of the risks they’re taking on in times of low interest rates, particularly if they haven’t fixed their rates. Lenders need to be wary,” he said.
Recent jitters in financial markets stemming from troubles in the subprime sector of the mortgage market underscored the risks and can serve as a “call for vigilance,” he added. Markets have been unsettled as two hedge funds at Bear Stearns (Charts, Fortune 500) ran into trouble with subprime bets that went bad.
Paulson, who was chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (Charts, Fortune 500) before taking the top Treasury post last year, said he monitors financial markets closely, and aside from the subprime situation, they remain healthy.
“Markets are volatile,” he said. “I haven’t seen a single thing that surprises me – it’s hard to surprise me.”
