A Slight Summer Cooling from Spring’s Peak – Housing Market Review

cooling (Yosemite waterfall)

Housing Market Intro and Summary May’s housing market was remarkably strong and represented the peak velocity of the spring selling season. June followed up with more relative strength but a slight sequential cooling as mortgage rates continued a march back to the top of the recent range. Housing starts, new home sales, and existing home … Read more

Sailing Past the Sunset – Housing Market Review

sailing past the sunset (Credit: sailing past the sunset by jackfraser on Flickr)

Housing Market Intro and Summary The spring selling season housing market looked “defiant” going into the end of a cycle. In June, the housing market looks like it refuses to let the cycle end as it sails past the expected sunset. New home sales and housing starts surged as the market for existing homes barely … Read more

A Housing Reality Check with Sales In Recession – The Housing Market Review

reality check (credit aldrea on Flickr)

Housing Market Intro and Summary A potential peaking in mortgage rates may be the only good thing to say about today’s housing market. Sales continue to slide, input costs remain high, affordability continues to decline, and builder sentiment sinks lower and lower. The reports from August tell a consistent story of a steepening housing downturn. … Read more

Marching Under the Shadow of Recession Fears – Housing Market Review

Housing Market Intro and Summary An aggressively hawkish Federal Reserve has changed the game for the housing market. After falling behind the curve and failing to start the rate hike cycle last year, America’s central bank is now desperately scrambling to catch up without causing a recession. The housing market is ground zero for the … Read more

Home Builder Stocks Ignore the Calm in the Data – Housing Market Review

Housing Market Intro and Summary The housing market’s comfortable calm continued into September even as the stock prices of home builders raced downward. A general sell-off in the stock market ensnared housing-related stocks. Yet, the housing data reported in September showed little change from the prior month. While home builder stocks ignore the calm in … Read more

Upward America Venture: Lennar Tackles Housing Affordability Challenge

Just as I was going about to close the books on the seasonal trade in home builders, Lennar (LEN) revived upward momentum across home builders. LEN gained 13.8% after announcing a partnership with Centerbridge to invest in rental single-family housing. News of the “Upward America Venture” lit a fire across the sector. However, the excitement … Read more

Housing Stocks In Limbo Amid New Signs of Market Normalization – Housing Market Review (December, 2020)

Housing Market Intro and Summary In recent months a divergence in the housing market emerged between rangebound home builder stocks and strong housing data. In October, new home sales recorded a third straight month at the 1 million mark. Since new home sales hit an August peak, the stocks of home builders have also largely … Read more

Housing Market Review (June, 2019) – An On-Going Push Against the Seasonal Top

Housing Market Intro/Summary After writing the last Housing Market Review, I was convinced a triple top had appeared in the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB). The May sell-off in the stock market pushed ITB into a breakdown below its 50-day moving average (DMA). Immediately after that post, ITB rebounded right through its 50DMA and … Read more

Housing Market Review (November, 2018) – The Federal Reserve Takes Note As Housing Deepens Its Slowdown

I saw a flicker of hope for home builders in the May Housing Market Review. Traders decided to snuff that flicker out very quickly afterward. When I wrote June’s housing market review and described a “struggling flicker,” the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) was once again bouncing off the bottom of 2018’s trading range. … Read more

Housing Market Review (August, 2018) – Worsening Affordability Issues Add to Weakening Data

I saw a flicker of hope for home builders in the May Housing Market Review. Traders decided to snuff that flicker out very quickly afterward. When I wrote June’s housing market review and described a “struggling flicker,” the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) was once again bouncing off the bottom of 2018’s trading range. … Read more