On the Call: Home Depot CEO on housing market

NEW YORK (AP) -- Home Depot reported better than expected fourth quarter results as people repaired their homes after Superstorm Sandy and the housing market slowly recovered. Here CEO Frank Blake discusses the gradual recovery of the housing market.

QUESTION: Are you seeing anything in the business today that speaks to the duration and sustainability of the housing market recovery.

RESPONSE: "I am not sure there is anything directly that we can see that is going to tell us how long it lasts. What I would say is that so far what we are seeing is consistent with, if not slightly better than, what we discussed with everyone back in our June investor conference, where we laid out ... how we see our market recovering: that there will be a workout stage for a couple of years before we hit really the strong recovery stage.

"I would say what we have seen so far is consistent with that, if not slightly positive."