Greenspan: Home market could bottom in 2009
Former Federal Reserve chairman says housing market could stabilize next year or 'beyond' - report.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, projects that housing prices could bottom out in 2009 - or maybe later - according to a news report.
"Home prices in the U.S. are likely to start to stabilize or touch bottom sometime in the first half of 2009, " said Greenspan to The Wall Street Journal.
But he also added that "prices could continue to drift lower through 2009 and beyond," according to the newspaper.
He said the "excess supply" of housing units, some 800,000 units above normal, is running out.
Appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, Greenspan served as chairman from 1987 to 2006, when he was replaced by Ben Bernanke.