Ivy Zelman 41, a former housing analyst at Credit Suisse, warned about the housing crisis months before the downturn. Now on her own as head of a research firm (Zelman & Associates) she sees this recession in housing as more severe than the 1990 and 1991 downturn and she also believes it could have a much broader impact on the economy than people realize. She also says it will be longer in duration and that the consumer is going to roll over.

Zelman was one of the first Wall Street analysts to question bullish home builders, show concern over the flood of speculators buying new homes, and the problems posed by subprime mortgages.

In 2006 the Wall Street Journal ranked Ms Zelman the top homebuilder analyst in their “Best on the Street” survey. Prior to working at Credit Suisse, she worked at Salomon Brothers focusing on housing.

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