Greenspan Says "Housing Boom Over" but…

In his first public comments as a private citizen since leaving the Federal Reserve in January, former chairman Alan Greenspan said Thursday that the housing "boom is over" but did not share his views on hot issues such as inflation, interest rates or Fed policy.

"This has been quite an extraordinary (housing) boom," Greenspan said during a Bond Market Association dinner in New York. "The boom is over. I think we can safely say that with a strong degree of confidence."

However, he said, there is "no evidence that home prices will collapse." While he did not rule out price declines in "frothy" markets, he said it is too early to determine what impact a slowing housing market would have on consumer spending.

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