Continue reading Consumer Confidence Hits Three-Month Low

Consumer Confidence Hits Three-Month Low originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Home Depot's (HD) third-quarter earnings came in 21% higher than the same period last year, beating analysts' estimates. For the quarter ended Oct. 31, the company reported a profit of $834 million or 61 cents a share, up from $689 million or 44 cents a share last year. Revenue rose 1.4% to $16.6 billion. Same-store sales increased 1.4% These results mark the fourth straight gain after three years of decline.

Chairman and Chief Executive Frank Blake said: "As the business stabilizes, we continue to improve our operational performance ... We are exercising good control over our expenses."

Continue reading Home Depot's Profit Rises 21%, Beating Estimates

Home Depot's Profit Rises 21%, Beating Estimates originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Home Prices Are About to Bottom" was the headline for the Barron's cover story the week of July 14, 2008. The story explained that the housing market should level off in many areas of the country by the end of the year.

I have made some equally unfortunate prognostications in my tenure at BloggingStocks, so my purpose is not to poke fun at Barron's but to point out that here we are, over two years later, and it is still debatable whether the housing market has bottomed out.

Continue reading Chasing Value: "Home Prices Are About to Bottom"

Chasing Value: "Home Prices Are About to Bottom" originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Hopes for Housing -- Squashed

Hopes for Housing -- Squashed originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Beazer Homes Reports 4Q Loss

Beazer Homes Reports 4Q Loss originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Homebuilder Lennar (LEN) had a great session on Monday. It closed at a price of $15.14, which represents a gain of over 8%. Volume was quite active, implying conviction in the move.

The one-year chart appears to be a volatile one, but it's in the context of a narrow range. The 52-week low is $11.56, and the 52-week high is $21.79. Does the stock have what it takes to break out of recent resistance levels? Can we infer positive things from yesterday's price change?

Continue reading Lennar Earnings Improve in Q3, but Is It Time to Buy?

Lennar Earnings Improve in Q3, but Is It Time to Buy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller home price index, prices for single-family homes in 20 major cities increased a seasonally unadjusted 1.3% in May.

According to the report, prices have increased 4.6% during the past year. Compared to April, prices increased in 19 of the 20 metro areas that the index tracks. The last month's increase was the second-straight following six monthly declines.

Continue reading Case-Shiller Index: Home Prices Have Increased

Case-Shiller Index: Home Prices Have Increased originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Stocks of Mortgage Insurers Rising

Stocks of Mortgage Insurers Rising originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index, home prices in the 20 cities surveyed saw an increase for the first time in seven months. The 0.8% gain was driven by the government tax credits, which have since expired.

Therein lies the problem: the gains were propelled by government incentives, and said incentives have gone by the wayside. Will we see the gains come back to the pack since the government has stopped spending to make us spend? You can bet on it.

Continue reading Home Prices Edge Higher in April, Driven by Tax Credits

Home Prices Edge Higher in April, Driven by Tax Credits originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Whether you want to believe it or not, more indicators pop up each week that point to improvements in the housing market. Either we're at the bottom now, or we will be soon.

Of course, I just bought my first ever home in September of 2009 (a short-sale in Montgomery County, Md.) so perhaps I'm biased. But even in the worst markets there are signs of life in housing that should encourage investors and homebuyers alike.

Here are three top signs that the housing market has bottomed out.

Continue reading Three Signs Housing Has Bottomed

Three Signs Housing Has Bottomed originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 13 May 2010 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There's a whole lot of fuss on Wall Street right now about the impact of a first-time homebuyer credit expiring this week. The $8,000 question? Whether the housing market will continue to improve without the payday, or whether we are in for another round of falling home prices and rising foreclosures.

There's no doubt that 2010 so far has been very profitable for housing stocks. But are those profits going to stick, and is the housing market going to continue to improve?

Continue reading Five Reasons the Housing Market Is Improving

Five Reasons the Housing Market Is Improving originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 43% Gain to Build a Position in KB Homes

Chasing Value: 43% Gain to Build a Position in KB Homes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Commerce Department reported that housing starts fell 5.9% in February to 575,000. Building permits also fell in February. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg news had forecast starts to fall to between 510,000 to 610,000.

Much of the weakness can be blamed on the weather. You don't start new construction in the midst of snowstorms and blizzards. Also, with a backlog of unsold existing homes, it becomes more difficult start new constructions. Builders remain cautious of moving forward too rapidly.

Here is a breakdown of the stats:

Continue reading Housing Starts Fell 5.9% in February

Housing Starts Fell 5.9% in February originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Has the housing market hit bottom? According to Zillow Real Estate Market Reports, the answer is no. Zillow does predict the bottom will come in the second half of 2010.

There are a host of complex factors weighing on the market. Among them are:

• More than one-fifth (21.4%) of American single family home mortgages are "under water." That means that the homeowner owes more on the mortgage than the house is worth.

Continue reading One in Five U.S. Mortgages Are 'Under Water'

One in Five U.S. Mortgages Are 'Under Water' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Housing Market Slides, but Some Silver Lining Visible

Housing Market Slides, but Some Silver Lining Visible originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Housing Starts Drop 4% During December

Housing Starts Drop 4% During December originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Foreclosures Rise 14% in December

Foreclosures Rise 14% in December originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The loans that got us into this mess were generally the first to fall. Variable rate mortgages written without documentation for people with sketchy credit histories shocked nobody as their slide became an avalanche. But, the good stuff is starting to follow. An increasing amount of fixed rate mortgages offered to borrowers with solid credit histories are feeling their ways to foreclosure. Blame unemployment for this one. When people can't work, it gets pretty hard to pay the mortgage.

Fixed rate, high quality mortgages had a foreclosure a year ago. Last quarter, it jumped to 33%, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association report. As this happened, the amount of homeowners behind on their payments or in foreclosure just set another record high ... for the ninth month in a row. Subprime mortgages are headed in the other direction. Low quality adjustable rate mortgages are now 16% of new foreclosures -- compared to 35% last year. And, more than 18% of Federal Housing Administration loans are anywhere from one payment behind to in foreclosure, with California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida worst off: together, they accounted for 44% of new foreclosures.

Continue reading Even the good die young? High-quality mortgages approaching foreclosure

Even the good die young? High-quality mortgages approaching foreclosure originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you've become comfortable with the current state of the housing market ... don't. Economists at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Bank of America's Merrill Lynch (NYSE: BAC) say there's still plenty of risk in the housing market.

Alec Phillips, the head of Goldman's Washington office, said, "The risk of renewed home price declines remains significant." His "working assumption" is a drop of between 5% and 10% by the middle of next year.

Continue reading Housing market to dip again next year; Goldman says by 10%

Housing market to dip again next year; Goldman says by 10% originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Existing homes are starting to move again. Last month, home resales hit their highest level in more than two years, thrashing expectations. The 9.4% increase in home resales -- which entails a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.57 million -- is attributed largely to the deadline for the first-time home buyer tax credit.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the annualized, seasonally adjusted rate is up from the 5.1 million in August and far ahead of the 5.35 million expected for September (based on economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters).

Continue reading Home resales up 9.4% in September, prices fall

Home resales up 9.4% in September, prices fall originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.