housing posts
Posted Jun 30th 2009 10:40AM by Tom Johansmeyer
Filed under: Economic data, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis
Early estimates of a contraction in the U.K. economy were not enough. First quarter 2009 estimates were revisited, showing a 2.4% fall in gross domestic product from the last quarter of 2008 to 2009. This downward revision made the first three months of the year the worst since people wore skinny ties, hated communism, and bore nicknames like "Buzz."
In the second quarter of 1958, U.K. GDP plummeted 2.6%, though the 2.4% threshold matches the depths hit in 1979. The original 2009 Q1 estimate was -1.9%, according to the Office for National Statistics in London.
Continue reading U.K. economy has worst quarter since 1958
Posted Jun 26th 2009 2:30PM by James Cullen
Filed under: Earnings reports, KB HOME (KBH)

Shares in homebuilder
KB Home (NYSE:
KBH) dropped more than 8% as of mid-day Friday following the company's earnings release. Earnings per share for the quarter ending May 31 were a loss of $1.03, or $78.4 million, on $384.5 million in revenue, compared to the $0.64 average loss expected from analysts. The expected earnings range was between a $0.03 and a $1.40 loss, reflecting uncertainty about the writedowns needed on home inventories, land, and joint ventures.
When the housing market was at its peak in 2006, KB Home's sales topped $3 billion in one quarter. The company has struggled since, as the worst housing market in generations has led to a decline in housing starts of more than 75% from the peak to the present.
Continue reading KB Home drops amid more losses
Posted Jun 24th 2009 5:30PM by Michael Fowlkes
Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Products and services, Industry, Competitive strategy, Market matters, Lennar Corp'A' (LEN), Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

We will get a little better idea of just what is happening with the real estate market tomorrow when home builder
Lennar Corporation (NYSE:
LEN)
reports its second quarter results.
Headed into tomorrow's earnings announcement, analysts are expecting another loss, but a much smaller loss than the company reported for its first quarter. Last quarter we saw a loss of
98 cents per share. This quarter analysts are predicting a loss of "only" 63 cents per share.
Continue reading Lennar second quarter earnings preview
Posted Jun 24th 2009 5:10PM by Joseph Lazzaro
Filed under: Housing

Looking for new digs? Well if you're a person or a couple of means, you could snare
film producer Bob Weinstein's place on Central Park West in Manhattan,
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday (
Subscription required).
The 6,500-square-foot, 14-room duplex is in the glamorous Beresford Building and features six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a family room, formal dining room, two balconies, three fireplaces, and a library, the
Real Estalker notes. Continue reading House hunting? How about this spread in the capital of the world
Posted Jun 16th 2009 6:00PM by Michael Fowlkes
Filed under: Major movement, Forecasts, Good news, Market matters, Money and Finance Today, Economic data, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

It was the largest jump in three months, as new home construction
increased by 17.2% during the last month.
The increase was much higher than analysts had been expecting, and last month we moved up to an annual rate of 532,000 units... well above the 500,000 units that had been forecast.
Continue reading New home construction jumps in May
Posted May 26th 2009 5:00PM by Michael Fowlkes
Filed under: Forecasts, Bad news, Consumer experience, Employees, Market matters, Money and Finance Today, Economic data, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

The employment data is in for April, and it is not a pretty picture, as all but 6 states in the country saw
increases in the number of jobless claims.
We all hope that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is right, and the economy is going to start to turn around in the latter part of this year, but even the most optimistic forecasters agree that unemployment is going to continue to rise, possibly above 10% before the worst is over.
Continue reading Unemployment continues its rise in April
Posted May 26th 2009 10:00AM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Housing, Recession
In one of the least enlightening stories you'll ever see, The Wall Street Journal's normally insightful "Ahead of the Tape" column reports (subscription required) that "A full recovery for housing, and maybe the broader economy, depends on a third step: Prices must stop falling. On that front, as with other economic data, the "second derivative" is improving -- things are still getting worse, but at a slower rate."
That's right: In order for the real estate market to be good again, real estate prices have to stop crashing. In a related story, The Washington Nationals will need to start winning baseball games if they are to have a shot at playing in the post-season.
Continue reading WSJ says that in order for real estate market to rebound, prices have to stop crashing
Posted May 20th 2009 5:00PM by Steven Mallas
Filed under: Earnings reports, Lowe's Cos (LOW), Toll Brothers (TOL)
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL), a builder of luxury homes, issued some preliminary revenue results for its second quarter and six-month period. Now, there isn't a lot of surprising stuff here. Things are down, to be certain. What you possibly might be surprised by is the way the stock is trading. As I write this, shares of Toll Brothers have shed about 1% of their value. While that might sound logical because of the presented data, I do have to say that, to me at least, the fact that the shares haven't plunged on the news is almost an encouraging sign.
Continue reading Toll Brothers reports lousy preliminary data -- buy or sell on the news?
Posted May 20th 2009 4:40PM by Joseph Lazzaro
Filed under: Home Depot (HD), Stocks to Buy

What? Buy
The Home Depot (NYSE:
HD) after it reported Q1 EPS of 35 cents -- it beat the First Call Q1 EPS estimate of 29 cents – but failed to raise guidance? Indeed, the Buy rating has been generated. Here's why:
Home Depot's Q1 sales fell 9.7% and same store sales declined 10.2%. Those are pretty bad totals for key metrics, and of course the stock sold off some Tuesday, with short-term players taking profits. However, unless you believe the U.S. housing market and economy is likely to remain in recession for more than two quarters, those low sales totals sat up easier comparisons for next year, and the stock pull-back represents a buying opportunity.
Continue reading Time to scoop up some shares of The Home Depot
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