Ben Bernanke Following Quotations

Following an extended boom in housing, the demand for homes began to weaken in mid-2005. By the middle of 2006, sales of both new and existing homes had fallen about 15 percent below their peak levels. Homebuilders responded to the fall in demand by sharply curtailing construction.

The downturn following the collapse of Japan's so-called bubble economy of the 1980s was not as severe as the Great Depression.