Foundation strong for housing market.

By Steve Brown, The Dallas Morning News Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Feb. 23--Demographic pressures are so strong that the U.S. housing market will continue to grow even if interest rates rise, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors predicted Tuesday.

David Lereah told a meeting in Dallas that the current housing boom is likely to last through the decade.

"The real estate market is still booming all across the U.S.," Mr. Lereah said. "You can't apply conventional wisdom to the real estate markets anymore.

"Interest rates going up don't necessarily mean real estate will go down."

That's because …