Greenspan Weighs in on Housing Bubble

With the market for Florida homes still running red-hot, Federal Reserve Board Chirman Alan Greenspan finally weighed in on the whole housing bubble issue. And, much like he did just before the stock market bubble of the late nineties collapsed, he refused to call it a bubble.

Greenspan admitted to the possible existence of local housing bubbles in certain specific sections of the country (Florida, anybody?), but downplayed the likelihood of a real nation-wide bust. As analyst Lou Barnes of Inman News suggests, however, Greenspan is bound to be hedging his bets this way, as there's really not much he can do to affect the situation right now. If the Fed raises interest rates enough to calm the housing market, it will bring the rest of the economy to a standstill.

And so red-hot real estate markets like Florida will have to simply continue to wait and see.