http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=7eab56ccfa94fdc0&cat=3a8a80d6f705f8ccJACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (Reuters) - U.S. home prices could fall as the housing surge "inevitably" slows, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Saturday as he cast doubt on central banks' ability to sway such asset values.
"The housing boom will inevitably simmer down," the Fed chief said. "As part of that process, house turnover will decline from currently historic levels, while home price increases will slow and prices could even decrease."
Greenspan's latest house price warning came during concluding remarks to an annual Kansas City Fed symposium -- his last as Fed chief and one focused on a retrospective of his 18 years at the Fed. Greenspan intends to step down at the end of next January.
The central banker famed for Delphic utterances offered an unusually blunt assessment of the challenges he sees facing his still-unknown heir and his views of issues such as inflation targets, economic imbalances and the budget gap.
On Friday, he warned investors not to assume rises in the value of assets such as stocks and homes were "structural and permanent" and that the buying power fueled by those price surges could evaporate if buyers turned wary.
Analysts called Greenspan's warnings timely but said he was not signaling an imminent collapse, just pointing out that double-digit house price gains could not last forever.
"I would say it was a very explicit forecast of what's going to happen not over one year, but over two or three years, said David Hale, chairman of Chicago-based Hale Advisors.
Some economists have criticized Greenspan for letting what they view as a house price "bubble" develop, equating it to the one that swept technology stocks to stratospheric levels before bursting in 2000.
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Greenspin is spinning at the housing market that he created with low interest rates!!!
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