Bernanke - flat house prices may encourage savings

WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Flat U.S. house prices might discourage homeowners from counting their properties as savings tools and so develop other savings plans, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in testimony on Wednesday.

Homeowners have lately seen their homes as investments and that is partly why "current savings out of current income is low," Bernanke said.

Appreciating home values and stock gains are "not counted as part of the national savings rate," he said. As home values flatten, Bernanke said, many homeowners will be less able to extract wealth from their homes and so "current income may rise a bit over the next couple of years."