Housing Outstripping Population Growth, Report Warns

"By the end of the year, America's bubbling housing prices will likely flatten or pop, causing an economic slowdown, economists warned in a flurry of reports yesterday and today...in a report to be issued today, the Anderson Forecast warns that the construction of new homes is outstripping the natural growth of the population. The report notes that current population growth supports about 1.5 million to 1.6 million new houses being built throughout the nation. But 1.9 million units were built last year and 2 million are slated for construction this year, indicating that a slowdown is in order. 'Beyond the housing market, there's really not much going on in the economy,' said Michael Bazdarich, senior economist at the Anderson Forecast. 'The rise in housing prices has represented an inordinate part of our economic recovery. If the housing market slows too sharply, there would be nothing to sustain economic growth.'"