A fast timing betagammagamma(t) method has been used to measure level lifetimes in 152Nd as populated in the beta- decay of 152Pr. The following half-lives have been measured: T1/2=330(14) and 53(10) ps for the 236.7 keV 4(1)+ and the 484.0 keV 6(1)+ members of the ground-state band, T1/2=145(11), 12(7), and 64(56) ps for the 1542.0 keV 2-, 1600.7 keV 3-, and the 1683.2 keV 4- members of the K(pi)=2- band, and T1/2=42(6) and 30(10) ps for the 1827.5 keV 3- and the 1898.3 keV 4- members of the K(pi)=3- band, respectively. The observed allowed M1 rates and large hindrance factors for the E1 transitions deexciting these bands is discussed in terms of K forbiddenness and the (suggested) dominant two-quasiparticle configurations. Systematics of the octupole vibrational bands in the rare-earth region is examined. The energy minima for the K(pi)=1- bands follow a narrow valley along N = 94 associated with the two-quasineutron {nu5/2+[642] - nu3/2- [521]} configuration, while minima for the K(pi)=2- bands follow narrow valleys at Z = 66 and Z = 74 associated with the two-quasiproton configurations {pi7/2- [523] - pi3/2+[411]} and {pi9/2- [514] - pi5/2+[402]}, respectively. In contrast, the lowering of the K(pi)=0- bands near 146Ba is along both neutron and proton numbers, giving a flat minimum.
