Housing market continues to underperform

• "The U.S. housing market will continue to slump for the remainder of 2007, with home sales falling further and price growth will continue to slow, a leading industry economist said on Wednesday. David Berson, vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), said 2006 and 2007 combined will show the biggest drop in sales since the housing downturn of 1989-91." source:reuters
• "Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, tonight warned that the downturn in the troubled US housing market would get worse before it got better as he pledged action by the central bank to rein in abuses in the sub-prime mortgage market." source:The guardian