What Happened to the Housing Market – Breakouts and Bottoms | Feb, 2024

what happened to the housing market - construction site

Housing Market Intro and Summary What happened in the housing market in February, 2024? Breakouts and bottoms happened. In my previous Housing Market Review, I posited the possibility of a top in the seasonal trade on home builders. In the subsequent month, the stocks of home builders took on new life as investors forgot about … Read more

Weighed Down By Higher Mortgage Rates, Lower Sentiment – Housing Market Review

housing bulls weighed down (Credit: Google Workspace Labs, AI-generated)

Housing Market Intro and Summary The window for new home sales stealing share from existing home sales may be grinding to an end. Another plunge in sentiment for home builders combined with mortgage rates trending fast and furiously upward toward 8% are exerting more and more friction on the entire housing market. The stocks of … Read more

Leaning into the Headwinds of Higher Rates – The Housing Market Review

Housing Market Intro and Summary A hawkish Federal Reserve has changed the game for the housing market. At first, I thought the normalization in monetary policy would generate a “settling in” for the housing market. However with inventories tight, a scarcity in available labor, rising material costs, and a dysfunctional supply chain, higher rates may … Read more

Settling In – Housing Market Review

Housing Market Intro and Summary The story of housing remained relatively steady for most of the year: low inventory, rising prices, strong demand, low interest rates, and the desire for more space, especially in the suburbs. In my last Housing Market Review, I explored the market as a nexus of economic recovery and inflation. In … Read more

A Nexus of Economic Recovery and Inflation – Housing Market Review

Housing Market Intro and Summary The home builder stock buying season started on a firm foundation. November delivered strong follow-through across a broad range of housing-related stocks even as the housing data settles into a period of normalization. Demand for new and existing homes is well off last year’s heated levels. Supply remains extremely tight … Read more

A Firming Foundation for the Home Builder Stock Buying Season – Housing Market Review

Housing Market Intro and Summary In the last Housing Market Review, I described the growing calm in the housing market data that contrast with the sell-off in home builder stocks. That sell-off worked in sync with the general stock market. The rebound in October also worked in parallel with the general stock market. As a … Read more

A Comfortable Calm – Housing Market Review (August, 2021)

Housing Market Intro and Summary Despite more evidence of slowing conditions in the housing market, home builder stocks remained relatively resilient in August. The underlying dynamics of demand remain in place even as housing prices remain lofty and continue to conjure up images of a housing bubble for market commentators and pundits. A supportive Federal … Read more

Follow-Through Trades: Housing Drags, Tech Brags

The Follow-Through Intro The biggest follow-through trades from “Key Stock Sectors Missed A Breakout In Market Breadth – Above the 40” (June 11, 2021) erupted in the housing-related plays. Big cap tech looks more ready than ever to reestablish its leadership position over the market. The stock market had an initial negative reaction to the … Read more

Key Stock Sectors Missed A Breakout In Market Breadth – Above the 40 (June 11, 2021)

Stock Market Commentary The stock market struggled for months against the downtrend line on market breadth. The struggle ended last week. My favorite technical indicator of breadth AT40 (T2108) broke out and closed the week at 61.9%. Now I start a countdown toward a test of the overbought threshold. However, several sectors dampened the week’s … Read more

Home Builder Stocks Powered Through Softening Housing Data – Housing Market Review (March, 2021)

Housing Market Intro and Summary Softening housing data pointed to more normalization in the housing market. Normalization is returning housing data to prior trends and in some cases suggesting important plateaus. Home builder stocks powered through the softening data to show strength in sharp rebounds and fresh all-time highs. The arrival of the Spring selling … Read more