FDIC: Residential Realty Market Down a Bit Last Fall

Residential real estate markets cooled last summer and fall, but commercial markets were steady, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s latest survey of examiners and liquidators.

The FDIC reported last week that its survey of residential and commercial real estate conditions for mid-July to mid-October produced a composite score of 71, down 3 points from early July.

The residential index dropped 6 points, to 67, and the commercial index rose 1 point, to 77. Any score above 50 means the majority of the 311 bank and thrift regulators surveyed said local markets were improving. The higher the score, the more regulators agreed.

The results on the residential markets-which were much stronger than a year earlier-should not be read with alarm, said Cynthia Angell, an FDIC financial economist. "More participants noticed an increase in excess supply," she said. "It could possibly mean some overbuilding."

Twenty percent of regulators queried cited an excess of residential real estate, up from 18% in the previous survey. Results in the previous survey may have been boosted by the traditionally active spring housing market, the FDIC report said.

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