Deloitte: Housing Bubble Fears Passing

Home price growth has "slowed considerably" in recent months, and this should allay fears of a widespread housing "bubble," according to New York-based Deloitte Research."There has been much discussion recently about a housing bubble, but the truth is that home price appreciation has slowed considerably in the past three months," said Carl Steidtmann, Deloitte Research's chief economist and the author of its monthly Leading Index of Consumer Spending. "The time to talk about a bubble was last December." The company said real median home prices rose only 1.8% during February, March, and April from their levels of a year earlier. Deloitte Research is a subsidiary of Deloitte Consulting LLP, an associated partnership of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP. Deloitte & Touche USA is a member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a Swiss association, which can be found online at http://www.deloitte.com.