By Krystina Gustafson | CNBC
Shoppers look at merchandise at a Walmart store in Secaucus, N.J.
Consumers still see value in buying and owning homes. Yet with memories of the recession still fresh in their minds, the recent lift in real estate prices hasn’t been enough to persuade them to spend against that growing value.
In a keynote speech at the National Retail Federation’s annual conference in New York on Tuesday, William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said this consumer hesitancy is one reason retail sales have been held back.
“People haven’t actually tapped that housing wealth,” Dudley said, noting that home values have increased 40 percent since 2012.
