Housing Market Review – Crossroads: Past Strength Versus Nervous Future (January, 2016)

The last Housing Market Review covered data released in December, 2015. At the time, I saw the market coiling like a spring. Instead of springing forth, housing market stocks are in big retreat. Recession fears likely have a lot to do with the declines. The iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) is now down a … Read more

KB Home Stinks the Neighborhood Again, But I Am Holding My Nose This Time

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 19, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) A year ago, KB Home (KBH) reported Q4 2014 earnings that greatly disappointed financial markets. The stock lost 16% in the immediate aftermath. The stock took 5 months to recover only … Read more

The Seasonal Trade On Home Builders Faces Shaky Prospects

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 13, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Almost a month ago, analysts from KBW described a seasonal trade on home builders. {snip} I took a slightly different perspective on this seasonality to make the pattern stand out and … Read more

Chart Carnage: Home Builders Under Duress

When I decided to start writing a monthly summary of the status of the housing market, I had assumed that housing was going to remain in or settle into a general holding pattern. I assumed little was going to happen to the upside or the downside for a while. Under those conditions, it did not … Read more

LGI Homes Reports A Strong December And Takes the Edge off Recent Sell-Off

At the end of 2015, I wrote about the critical tests facing LGI Homes (LGIH). After another strong monthly closing report, LGIH seems more likely to pass the test of financial performance in coming earnings reports, but the technical test remains in place. LGIH reported record results for a single month in December, 2015: 433 … Read more