Lereah At New England Realtors Conference

“We have had five consecutive record years, and you can't sustain that forever,” David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said at the New England Realtors Conference held in Boston yesterday. “2006 is a year to catch our breath.”

Lereah said predictions reported by some economists that a real estate bubble is on the verge of bursting are misleading.

“It's more like a balloon that inflates and deflates,” he said. “The air is coming out of the balloon, but the bubble is not bursting.”

Lereah said most local housing markets are healthy, though home sales in 2006 will likely not be as strong as in recent years. But sales could bounce back in 2007 and for the rest of the decade. ( Lowell Sun 3/21/06)