A Potentially Important Shift In Income Demographics for Home Loans

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 29, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) I have written before that home builders have focused on building for higher income buyers and mortgage financing has been restricted to the well-off. It turns out things are not quite … Read more

Insurance Policies for Financial Stability: the UK Tightens Housing Policies and Further Tunes Its Warnings

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 21, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) “Historically low levels of interest rates globally and the current backdrop of low volatility across financial markets may encourage market participants to underestimate the likelihood and severity of tail risks. There … Read more

Growing Stalemate: Housing Starts, Affordability, and Sentiment Versus Student Debt

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 20, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released on Friday the numbers for April housing starts. The continued increase in housing starts confirms the … Read more

KB Home: Waiting on Margin News Despite Strong Preliminary Report

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 12, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) KB Home (KBH) has made good on its promise to focus more on short-term monetization. Since reporting disappointing earnings on January 13, 2015, KBH has already announced six openings, grand openings, … Read more

Australia’s Heating Housing Market Pressures Monetary Policy

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 11, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Australian Bureau of Statistics released its December, 2014 data on housing finance in Australia. The data show that first-time home buyers continue to decline as a percentage of all dwellings … Read more

Hard to Blame the Weather for the Drop in Home Builder Sentiment

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 17, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for February came in at 55. The biggest change in the index came from a large drop in the component … Read more

Why Home Builders Are Off to A Relatively Strong Start In 2015

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 9, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) It is still very early in the new year, but I cannot help notice the relative strength exhibited by iShares Trust – iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) and several major … Read more

The Squeeze On Renters And Implications for the Housing Market

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 7, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) I tracked down an article posted in Boston.com called “Renters Suffer as Evictions Surge in U.S.” after hearing the topic referenced in a recent Slate Money podcast. One of the guests … Read more

Million-Dollar Plus Homes and A Race for Affordability In California

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 11, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) Last month, I wrote about the strong sales activity in million dollar plus homes in Canada that are occurring despite poor jobs growth in the country. It was an interesting study … Read more

Millennials Are Poised to Deliver the Next Critical Juncture for the Housing Market

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 3, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) Demographic shifts can be key drivers of housing trends. To date I have spent more time examining the impact of aging Baby Boomers on the housing market than aging millennials, defined … Read more