WASHINGTON — CUNA Chief Economist Bill Hampel told Bloomberg TV prior to the release of the housing data that gave Bloomberg TV a peek into what they might reveal.

Hampel forecast that existing home sales for February “will not be very good news.” He said that “consensus is about 6.3 million, but it may be as low as 6.2 million. Bad weather was one factor.”

When asked if the housing situation was impacted by problems in the subprime sector, Hampel pointed out, “Credit quality has changed some, but credit unions are not much into the subprime market.” Looking ahead six months, Hampel said, the big news is going to be that home sales will be even weaker than initially predicted. “We still have a whole lot of subprime borrowers in the market, so it's the pain that keeps on hurting,” he concluded. “Mortgage resets will lead to a downdraft in the economy. Home prices will not be able to rise because the availability of borrowing is harder to get, due to rates in both the prime and subprime markets.”