Seeing Green Shoots in this Homebuilder Measure

Homebuilder sentiment was measured this week, and it showed that while builders are generally feeling positive about their sector, they are not as giddy as they were a few months back. So what does the Housing Market Index say for real estate? See the whole story at Latest Homebuilder Measure Offers Reason to Believe.

Housing Relative Shares	05-17 to 05-19 Close
SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB)	-0.5%
PulteGroup (NYSE: PHM)	-2.1%
D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI)	-0.7%
K.B. Homes (NYSE: KBH)	-0.8%
Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL)	-0.4%
Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV)	+0.6%
Lennar (NYSE: LEN)	-0.8%

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only. Editor's Note: Article should interest investors in Investors Title (Nasdaq: ITIC), Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC.OB), Fannie Mae (OTC: FNMA.OB), UltraShort Real Estate ProShares (NYSE: SRS), Ultra Real Estate ProShares (NYSE: URE), ING Clarion Global Real Estate Income Fund (NYSE: IGR), Xinyuan Real Estate Co. (NYSE: XIN), Rydex Real Estate Fund H (Nasdaq: RYHRX), T. Rowe Price Real Estate Fund (Nasdaq: TRREX), Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV), D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI), Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH), Lennar (NYSE: LEN), K.B. Homes (NYSE: KBH), Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM), NVR Inc. (NYSE: NVR), Gafisa SA (NYSE: GFA), MDC Holdings (NYSE: MDC), Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL), Meritage Homes (NYSE: MTH), Brookfield Homes (NYSE: BHS), Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF), M/I Homes (NYSE: MHO), Orleans Homebuilders (AMEX: OHB), Vanguard REIT Index ETF (NYSE: VNQ), PNC Bank (NYSE: PNC), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Hooker Furniture (Nasdaq: HOFT), Ethan Allen (NYSE: ETH), Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR), Williams Sonoma (NYSE: WSM), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Lowes (NYSE: LOW), Nasdaq: XNFZX, Nasdaq: FSAZX, Avatar Holdings (Nasdaq: AVTR), Apartment Investment & Management (NYSE: AIV), Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR), Avalonbay Communities (NYSE: AVB), UDR Inc. (NYSE: UDR), Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS), Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT), Senior Housing Properties (NYSE: SNH), BRE Properties (NYSE: BRE), Home Properties (NYSE: HME), Mid-America Apartment (NYSE: MAA), Equity Lifestyle Properties (NYSE: ELS), American Campus Communities (NYSE: ACC), Colonial Properties (NYSE: CLP), American Capital Agency (Nasdaq: AGNC), Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI), Associated Estates (NYSE: AEC), PennyMac Mortgage (NYSE: PMT), Two Harbors (AMEX: TWO), Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG).

The State of Housing in America

When February’s Existing Home Sales were reported last month, I proposed that the very disappointing result was likely anomalous. Given various bits of evidence and my experience and familiarity with the phenomenon, I thought the significant stock market turbulence and decline to start the year caused a negative feedback loop that stalled consumer spending in February, especially for major purchases like homes. Well, March’s Existing Home Sales data was reported last week, and it produced a much improved result. Given the level of fear that pervaded through financial markets this past winter, I believe it is probable that the stock market’s strong recovery this spring is serving to reinvigorate consumer spending now. Most importantly, for the whole of 2016, we expect housing to continue to expand and sales to continue to increase for a multitude of reasons. See the whole story at The True State of Housing in America.

Sample of Housing Relative Shares

SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB)

iShares US Real Estate (NYSE: IYR)

D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI)

K.B. Home (NYSE: KBH)

J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM)

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)

MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG)

Radian Group (NYSE: RDN)

Investors Title (Nasdaq: ITIC)

Home Depot (NYSE: HD)

iShares Mortgage Real Estate (NYSE: REM)

Invesco Mortgage Capital (NYSE: IVR)

New Residential Investment (NYSE: NRZ)

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only. This article should interest investors in residential REITs like American Campus Communities (NYSE: ACC), American Capital Agency (Nasdaq: AGNC), Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY), Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE: AIV), Apollo Residential Mortgage (Nasdaq: AMTG), ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE: ARR), Associated Estates Realty (NYSE: AEC), AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB), BRE Properties (NYSE: BRE), Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT), Campus Crest Communities (NYSE: CCG), Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE: CLP), CYS Investments (NYSE: CYS), Education Realty Trust (NYSE: EDR), Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE: ELS), Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR), Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS), Hatteras Financial (NYSE: HTS), Home Properties (NYSE: HME), Maxus Realty Trust (OTC: MRTI.PK), Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE: MAA), New York Mortgage Trust (Nasdaq: NYMT), PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE: PMT), Post Properties (NYSE: PPS), Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH), Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI), Two Harbors Investment (NYSE: TWO) and UDR (NYSE: UDR).

Real Estate - Fresh Data Dispels Housing Concern

A sharp decrease in existing home sales for February recently raised concern about the state of the real estate market. I believe the cause of the decrease was anomalous in nature, and data reported on Wednesday seems to confirm my view. I believe this fresh data along with a report from earlier in the week should dispel concern about housing. See more of this report here: Fresh Data Dispels Concern About Housing.

Housing Relative Shares	03-31-16 Approx. Noon
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	+0.2%
SPDR S&P Homebuilders (NYSE: XHB)	+0.7%
iShares US Real Estate (NYSE: IYR)	+0.5%
D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI)	+0.2%
K.B. Home (NYSE: KBH)	+2.6%
J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM)	-0.1%
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)	+0.1%
MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG)	+0.5%
Radian Group (NYSE: RDN)	+0.2%
Investors Title (Nasdaq: ITIC)	+0.0%
Home Depot (NYSE: HD)	+0.5%
iShares Mortgage Real Estate (NYSE: REM)	+0.7%
Invesco Mortgage Capital (NYSE: IVR)	+1.6%
New Residential Investment (NYSE: NRZ)	+1.1%

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only. This article should interest investors in residential REITs like American Campus Communities (NYSE: ACC), American Capital Agency (Nasdaq: AGNC), Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY), Apartment Investment and Management (NYSE: AIV), Apollo Residential Mortgage (Nasdaq: AMTG), ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE: ARR), Associated Estates Realty (NYSE: AEC), AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB), BRE Properties (NYSE: BRE), Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT), Campus Crest Communities (NYSE: CCG), Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE: CLP), CYS Investments (NYSE: CYS), Education Realty Trust (NYSE: EDR), Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE: ELS), Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR), Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS), Hatteras Financial (NYSE: HTS), Home Properties (NYSE: HME), Maxus Realty Trust (OTC: MRTI.PK), Mid-America Apartment Communities (NYSE: MAA), New York Mortgage Trust (Nasdaq: NYMT), PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE: PMT), Post Properties (NYSE: PPS), Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH), Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI), Two Harbors Investment (NYSE: TWO) and UDR (NYSE: UDR).