Fed tighter credit hurts real estate, little else

WASHINGTON, Sept 5 (Reuters) Financial market turbulence has noticeably hurt housing activity across the United States in recent weeks but other sectors of the economy have so far been spared, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.

''Outside of real estate, reports that the turmoil in financial markets had affected economic activity during the survey period were limited,'' the Fed said in in its Beige Book summary of anecdotal economic conditions.

The Fed said the tighter credit had added uncertainty about how soon residential real estate and construction would recover from the weak sales and prices reported in most districts.

Inventories of unsold homes were generally reported to be high, and contacts in seven districts believed softness in the housing market would continue in the near future, with potential for further declines, the Fed said.

Tighter credit conditions also were affecting commercial real estate, but credit quality remained good for most consumer and business borrowers, the Fed said.

Reports from the 12 Fed districts indicated that economic activity continued to expand during the July 17 to Aug. 27 survey period, but several described the pace of growth as described as moderate, modest, mixed or slowing.

But employment growth continued at least at a modest pace in every district except Chicago, which characterized employment conditions as ''mixed.'' REUTERS PBB RN0036