The housing market may have gone from cool to cold, the Commerce Department says.(THE NUMBERS)

American Drycleaner, April, 2006 by O'Rourke, Shelly

THE HOUSING MARKET MAY have gone from cool to cold, the Commerce Department says. New single-family home sales fell 5% in January, the fourth consecutive decline. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) adds that sales of pre existing homes slipped 2.8% in January.

Few predict a collapse in home prices and sales, however. Analysts agree with new Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, who expects a "moderate slowdown" in the housing market.

Home contracts fell almost 11% in the Southwest and 37% in the West from November through January, according to a report by Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. However, housing starts surged in the Carolinas, where home contracts increased 61% in the same three months.