Housing Market Review – Strong Housing Data Fail to Alleviate Doubts on Home Builders (October, 2016)

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in September for August, 2016. At that time, iShares US Home Construction (ITB) started a notable divergence from the performance of the S&P 500 (SPY). That divergence widened in October with the S&P 500 losing 1.9% month-to-date and ITB tumbling 6.8%. The selling in ITB has been … 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

Housing Market Review – GDP Contrasts With Relatively Healthy Housing Data (July, 2016)

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in June, 2016 for May. At the time, the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) had just reversed all its post-Brexit losses along with a sharp rebound in global financial markets. I expressed concern that ITB finally reached a top for the current cycle. The ETF instead … Read more

Housing Market Review – Three Strikes Against the West (June, 2016)

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in May, 2016 for April. At the time, the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) was experiencing a healthy rebound on the heels of strong data on new home sales. The rally came to a quick halt and had one more small burst in early June. I … Read more