Housing near bottom

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. housing market is “close to the bottom,” said Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York. “The valuation of real estate is much more reasonable now,” Hatzius said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “Over the next few years, the housing sector is going to improve.” For now, “there’s still a lot of excess supply out there,” he... [more]

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. housing market is “close to the bottom,” said Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York. “The valuation of real estate is much more reasonable now,” Hatzius said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “Over the next few years, the housing sector is going to improve.” For now, “there’s still a lot of excess supply out there,” he said. Sales of U.S. previously owned homes unexpectedly climbed in January to the highest level in eight months, led by rising demand for distressed properties as investors took advantage of lower prices, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed last month. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS18Z3GnlAo&feature=youtube_gdata_player [less]