Wall Street was fantasizing about it. Organized real estate was begging for it. Industry analysts are still predicting that it’s going to happen, they just don’t know when.

And the fiasco in the subprime market is wreaking havoc and not making the situation any less stressful either.

However, believing in fairy tales is not a part of the job description for the position of Federal Reserve Chairman, and Ben S. Bernanke is standing firm to his real world approach for interest rate adjustments.

Wednesday Bernanke and his colleagues at the Federal Open Market Committee agreed unanimously to leave the short-term Federal Funds rate alone for the sixth straight time at 5.25 percent. Wall Street reacted favorably to the news, ending Wednesday’s trading session with a rally. Thursday’s opening, however, was lower, due in part to higher oil prices and concerns about the subprime mortgage market.

In its statement released Wednesday, the FOMC changed its language somewhat, softening its outlook on the nation’s real estate market by saying, “…the adjustment in the housing sector is ongoing.”

No movement by the Fed means status quo for the resetting interest rate levels for all those subprime mortgages people used to finance the purchase of their homes the past few years.

Taking the Fed’s continued wait and see attitude into consideration, and the downward trend in the real estate cycle we are now experiencing — along with close to historically low interest rates — the timing is perfect for members of RealtyTrac to enter the market and pick up some incredible deals on property around the country as default numbers continue to rise.

In the meantime, the nation’s fiscal gatekeepers are still concerned about elevated levels of core inflation (inflation without energy and food prices in the mix), and they are holding fast to their story that there is currently no spillover effect from the subprime mortgage market fiasco into the general mortgage market.

Bottom line: the Fed believes the nation’s economy will continue to expand at a moderate pace for coming quarters. The agency did leave open the door for future rate adjustments — up or down — though the direction and timing of any such corrections will depend on the overall outlook for inflation and economic growth over the long run.