Global real estate investor Barry Sternlicht told CNBC on Thursday, February 19, 2015 that he disagreed with Nobel Prize-winning economist and Yale economics professor Robert Shiller, who predicted on February 18, 2015 that the home prices U.S. seem to have reached a peak for now [See videos below].
Housing is a major asset class that's "actually trailing asset bubbles," said Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of the $42 billion-plus investment firm Starwood Capital Group. "It's cheaper to buy a house and finance it, than it is to rent in many markets." He expressed optimism regarding the housing market.
In an interview on CNBC Shiller, co-founder of the Case-Shiller housing index, said he "won't bet" on the increase in home prices since 2012 continuing in the near future. "Home prices are ... at about the right level based on history. So maybe they won't go anywhere in the near future," Shiller said.