Later this morning, sales of existing homes for May will be published. On Friday, new home sales come out for the same month. Using a 12-month rolling average, sales of existing homes in April were 5.51 million units and new … Continued
ITB, the iShares U.S. home construction ETF, has posted seven straight positive months. The rally began last November – post-election. Momentum is not broken, but is not in acceleration either. May was essentially unchanged – up 0.25 percent – with … Continued
U.S. households have experienced steady growth for two and a half years, but also lag vis a vis growth in several other metrics. Steep rise in home prices possibly to blame? After going sideways for nearly two years (indigo bi-directional … Continued
U.S. sales of existing homes increased 0.7 percent month-over-month in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million units. This was the highest since 5.79 million in February 2007 (Chart 1). Sales had been flat for over a … Continued
U.S. sales of homes – both new and existing – are at/near cycle highs. This amidst personal incomes that are struggling to rise with surging home prices. Against this background comes the recent backup in mortgage rates, particularly post-Trump victory. … Continued
U.S. household real estate has come a long way. Back in 2Q06, the market value of U.S. household real estate peaked at $22.7 trillion, before coming under sustained pressure after the bubble burst. Amazingly, in the next five years, it … Continued
In an otherwise lackluster post-Great Recession recovery, housing has provided decent support to the U.S. economy. The only question is durability – or a lack thereof. Off post-bubble lows, sales of existing homes increased from a seasonally adjusted annual rate … Continued
XLY, the SPDR consumer discretionary ETF, acts well. It just broke out to a new high, as did its top three holdings – Amazon (AMZN), Home Depot (HD), and Comcast Corporation (CMCSA). These three make up 12.7 percent, 7.3 percent … Continued
This week, May’s existing and new home sales data come out – on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. In April, the former rose 1.7 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.45 million units, and has essentially gone sideways … Continued
ITB, the iShares U.S. home construction ETF, cannot get it going. On May 24th, it surged 3.8 percent with massive volume. The ETF was reacting to April’s new home sales, which surged 16.6 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual … Continued