Housing, revisited

On October 9th, I wrote about the conflicting views of former Fed chief Alan Greenspan, and journalist Robert J. Samuelson; Greenspan thought the housing downtrend was coming to an end, and Samuelson wasn't sure that was true.

Today, the CEO of Fortune Brands, as reported by Reuters, said:

"We see the likelihood of a fairly rapid recovery in the housing market in the second half of 2007... Underpinned by the resilience of the consumer, low interest rates, the prospect of a timely correction in housing inventories and the favorable long-term demographics of the categories."

Between October 9th and today, the public has learned:

• September brought the largest pricing decline in 35 years
• Housing is a significant drag on the economy
• Mortgage rates went up; and,
• The Fed maintained the status quo