Bay Area Housing In Focus: San Francisco Versus Brisbane

SF is happy to build housing on Brisbane Baylands- 684 acres of vacant land. We all need to do our share for working families + environment. https://t.co/X1se1UuLwN — Jane Kim (@JaneKim) September 27, 2016 This was a tweet that launched a potential “housing war” on the Peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area. I like … Read more

Housing Market Review – Slowing Data and A Fed-Related Overhang Mute Strong Sentiment (September, 2016)

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in August for July, 2016. New home sales soaring to a fresh post-recession high made the big headline even as sentiment among home builders remained essentially flatline for the year. This time around, new home sales cooled off month-over-month as builder sentiment finally showed life with a … Read more

Housing Market Review – A Holding Pattern Despite Soaring New Home Sales (August, 2016)

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in July for June, 2016. At the time, a disappointing GDP report sharply rejected the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) off a 9-year high. Fortunately, there was very little follow-through to the selling. When ITB rallied strongly on new home sales, the ETF recovered most of … Read more

Meritage Homes: Margin Pressures Cap An Already Low Valuation

Three months ago, I reviewed earnings guidance from Meritage Homes (MTH) for second quarter 2016. The guidance and subsequent positive market reaction came within weeks of a first quarter earnings report that was very poorly received (13% loss on the day). I called the guidance “too late” because of the sour taste left by the … Read more

U.S. Home Price Growth in 2Q 2016 Slows On A Monthly Basis

Today, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its quarterly report on U.S. home prices for Q2 2016. Home prices rose 5.6% but each month in the quarter increased “only” 0.2% sequentially. This monthly pace represents a substantial slowdown from the first quarter where monthly gains were 0.4%, 0.5%, and 0.8%. The FHFA speculates that … Read more