countries, including those where house prices have increased at a fast pace, such as france, spain or italy, fundamental factors can account for at least a substantial part of the change in prices. on the basis of some estimates that have been made to try to assess the extent to which bubbles exist, one can say that in some countries there are indications of an overvaluation of property prices, but there are many caveats associated with these estimates which have to do with the difficulties in disentangling fundamental and speculative effects. on the whole, i would say that a slowdown in the pace of increase of house prices is likely but the risk of a correction – that is, of a decline – is small in the period ahead. needless to say, conditions in housing markets and the size of associated risks differ considerably across countries, and even across regions within countries, in the euro area. will the ecb raise interest rates again in coming months? the change in the ecb ’ s monetary policy stance in early december was both necessary and prudent. it was necessary in order to preserve price stability over the medium term in view of several upside risks to price stability that had been identified and in order to send a clear signal that the ecb is determined to continue pursuing a credible policy that will preserve price stability over the medium term and continue to anchor inflation expectations to price stability. it was prudent to act promptly in view of increased upside risks, taking into account the long lags involved between a change in monetary policy and its effects on price developments. it was also prudent to decide on a moderate change in the stance, taking into account the uncertainty surrounding the evolution and effects of other determinants of inflation dynamics. with regard to the future, we did not decide ex ante to engage in a series of interest rate increases. in the future we will assess, as usual, all relevant information and analyse it in order to reach a conclusion about the outlook for price stability over the medium and long term. on the basis of this assessment, decisions will be taken with regard to the monetary policy stance but there is no reason or case for communicating anything more than what we have said. what should be perfectly clear is the ecb ’ s commitment and determination to fulfil its mandate to deliver price stability. in general, is the ecb following a different strategy to that followed by the us fed in raising interest rates? do the differences relate to changes in economic circumstances

persisted largely because of high unemployment rates. thus, in order to be successful, any effort to stabilize and revitalize lower - income neighborhoods will need to consider housing through the lens of access to jobs and educational opportunities. the federal reserve system currently has an initiative underway to better understand the relationship between community development activities and successful workforce development strategies. we anticipate that this research will provide valuable information for bankers and their community partners as they address the needs of their communities. of course, having a job is one thing. getting to it is another. with good reason, transportation considerations have become more common in community development plans in recent years. more communities are taking public transportation into account when planning residential projects. given the high cost of owning and operating a car, transportation options are a significant factor in a neighborhood ’ s overall affordability. demographic shifts over the last decade have resulted in the suburbanization of poverty, and now dictate that communities work together to create transportation options, including buses, light rail, and even car - sharing arrangements. even so, as the federal reserve bank of richmond has discovered in its work on car ownership for low - income workers, public transportation is not always sufficient to solve the transportation problems of the poor. some jobs, such as construction work, require that workers report to different locations. shift workers, whether security guards, airport baggage handlers, or hospital workers, may not have easy access to public transportation at night. supporting nonprofit organizations, such as vehicles for change, which takes donated cars and refurbishes them for sale to low - income workers for a very small fee, may be the most effective means for some communities to overcome the barriers to car ownership. 5 see, 75 fr 79278 ( dec 15, 2010 ) amending the cra regulations by revising the term “ community development ” to include loans, investments, and services that support, enable, or facilitate projects or activities that meet the “ eligible uses ” criteria in the housing and economic recovery act of 2008 and are conducted in designated target areas identified in nsp plans approved by the department of housing and urban development. see federal reserve banks of boston and cleveland and the federal reserve board of governors ( 2010 ), reo and vacant properties : strategies for neighborhood stabilization ( pdf ), proceedings of the conference, reo and vacant properties : strategies for neighborhood stabilization ( washington : federal reserve board of governors ). in addition, the federal reserve system created a series of video reports that highlight