Bernanke: Housing Will Cool

In his maiden voyage before Congress, newly minted Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted Wednesday that housing markets will cool but "not change sharply."In response to a question, Mr. Bernanke also addressed the issue of an inverted yield curve, saying such a condition may not signal a slowdown in the U.S. economy. The new central banker cautioned that "given the substantial gains in house prices and the high levels of home construction activity over the past several years, prices and construction could decelerate more rapidly than currently seems likely." He also said slower growth in the home equity market could lead households "to boost their saving and trim their spending." [Mr. Bernanke's testimony was under way as of MortgageWire's deadline on Wednesday.