From Business Insider
By Charles Hugh Smith
''The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of housing costs (once again, year-over-year change) has traced out a similar pattern of sharp recovery and renewed decline. Recall that the CPI uses "owners equivalent rent" as the basis for calculating housing costs.
Housing starts--the key metric of building activity and employment in residential construction-- bounced from the post-bubble lows but remain at historically depressed levels.
Single-family home sales sharply rose as prices fell and "short sales" (in which the bank sells the home for a price which is less than the outstanding mortgage) paid with cash (reflecting investor activity) rose to 25% to 30% of many markets.
Lennar Corporation, a large home builder, can be viewed as a proxy for the home building sector. The stock has recovered but has traced out a bearish flag pattern and appears to be close to rolling over. This may reflect the realization the housing recovery has stalled.''
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