Homebuilding At the Crossroads Of Changing Demographics

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 21, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) On January 17th, NPR’s All Things Considered ran a story called “Homebuilding Is Booming, But Skilled Workers Are Scarce.” It was yet another story adding to the evidence that the tightness … Read more

Picking Homebuilder Stocks for 2013

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on November 26, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} It is hard to be bearish on the U.S. economy when housing is working. Homebuilders are also the ultimate play on the U.S. economy given the minimal (direct) linkage to … Read more

What To Do with Your Homebuilder Stocks Now

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 28, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Congratulations to those of you who were able to ignore the bears on housing and stick with housing stocks this year. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) has finally recovered all … Read more

Shortage of Labor in Some Housing Markets

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 7, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) In “Home Builders Don’t Have Enough Workers to Meet New Demand“, CNBC reports that housing markets with strong demand are reporting severe shortages of labor. These strong markets include the Western … Read more

Latest Housing Price Data Confirm Housing Bottom Underway

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 26, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) The last earnings reports from homebuilders like Toll Brothers (TOL) and KB Home (KBH) have delivered very positive outlooks on the current housing market: see “A Swell Of Pent Up Demand … Read more

A Swell Of Pent-Up Demand Supports the Surge in Toll Brothers

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 24, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} TOL reported earnings the morning of August 22nd. The tone of the conference call was bullish and the market responded by pushing TOL to fresh 5 1/2 year highs. TOL’s … Read more

Time to Hedge A Little As Homebuilders Surge to Multi-Year Milestones

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 19, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) In 2010, the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) rallied sharply only to peak in parabolic fashion in April. That Fall, I reaffirmed my belief that housing would bounce along the bottom … Read more

KB Home Continues to Struggle With Former Downtrend From Peak of Housing Bubble

I have written positively several times about Kb Home (KBH) this year (for example, see “KB Home ‘On Offense’ As Its Housing Markets And Pricing Power Strengthen“). KBH is up nicely for the year through a lot of turbulent price action, but it has yet to shake its former downtrend drawn from the peak of … Read more

KB Home Going “On Offense” As Its Housing Markets And Pricing Power Strengthen

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 7, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Kb Home (KBH) has finally recovered most of its losses following its March 23rd earnings report. On that day, the market took KBH down 8.5% in response to those earnings, but … Read more

Shadow Inventory Has Become Less Relevant to the Housing Bottom Debate

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 23, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Earlier this month, I argued that 2012 is the year to start betting on a bottom for housing in 2013 (see “Time to Buy the Dips in Homebuilders“). One of the … Read more