Bernanke says home price insurance would be costly

WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - An idea floated by some economists to encourage home buyers to purchase home price insurance would be costly in the current market, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.

"In the current environment ... that would be a pretty expensive premium to buy," Bernanke said in response to a question at a housing conference. "I do think we should think about, more generally, the issue of the structure of our mortgage contracts."