Just the other day President Bush observed, "I think this economy is down because we built too many houses."

If only the president's view of the current economic situation were the whole story.

Indeed, if it were just a supply problem, it would be relatively easy to unload the surplus of new houses on the market around the country.

Sure, builders would take a loss, but buyers would get bargains and all the excess would be mopped up.

Of course to do that, you have to have a fully functional mortgage market.

And you'd need consumers who feel confident enough about their financial well-being to make a big investment.

Alas, we have neither of those.

So I wouldn't bet on a quick solution to the housing market's woes.

The way to fix the housing market is to fix the economy. And I don't hear a lot of answers for that.

The Federal Reserve seems to think that cutting interest rates is the key.

But interest rate cuts have done little to help the housing sector.

Indeed, I could argue that the increased likelihood of inflation caused by the Fed's rate cutting will wind up being a downer for real estate.

In previous economic cycles, real estate has usually been considered a good hedge against inflation.

But that's not going to happen this time since the prices of both residential and commercial properties are falling.

There'll be a double whammy on real estate if overall prices rise and real estate remains in a slump.

And as much as all the politicians running for office want to come up with a housing bailout, the proposals so far are likely to do more harm that good.

Schemes that would force lenders to reduce the amount of mortgage principal or declare a moratorium on foreclosure will just add to the cost and requirements to get a home loan.

That will delay – not improve the chances for – a housing market recovery.

And the federal government can't print money fast enough to bail out all the Wall Street firms, big banks and every homeowner in America who made a bad housing deal.

A few weeks ago, I suggested that the best way to get out of the current housing morass is to take all the bitter medicine as quickly as possible.

But that was before that "cure" included a dose of higher oil costs, rising consumer prices and a plunging dollar.

Taken all in one gulp, this concoction could prove fatal.

Maybe lower interest rates will help? Oh yes, we tried that already.

DHL International – the big international express and air freight firm – has signed a big lease in Irving.

DHL leased 173,110 square feet of industrial space at 2580 Esters Road near Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

The industrial space was leased from the landlord, Kennedy Associates.

Steve Berger of CB Richard Ellis negotiated the lease.

Reliant Healthcare Partners is developing a $24 million rehabilitation hospital in Bedford.

The 60-bed, 62,000- square-foot facility will open next summer at the northeast corner of State Highway 121 and Bedford Road.

The hospital will also include a 20-bed orthopedic center.

Reliant recently opened a rehabilitation hospital in Richardson, and the company said it plans to build an additional 10 hospitals in the next two years.

Dallas-based Southwest Verity Capital is a partner in the project, which will be the fifth facility under construction for Reliant Healthcare Partners.

More than three dozen physicians will have a large ownership stake in the Bedford facility, which initially will employ 75 people.

Henry S. Miller Commercial LLC has set up a new hospitality division.

The just-started operation for the Farmers Branch-based real estate firm will focus on hotel brokerage plus work with developers and hotel operating companies.

J. David Young will head up the division. Mr. Young previously worked with Days Inn of America and HFS Inc.