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iShares FTSE NAREIT Residential Plus Capped Index ETF

5/24/2013, 4:37 PM ET

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Thursday, May 23, 10:07 AM More on New Home Sales: The March print was revised sharply higher - to 444K from 417K. April sales were 2.3% higher than March and 29% higher than a year ago. The median sales price was $271.6K, the average $330.8K. Inventory stands at 156K, representing a supply of 4.1 months. Homebuilders ETF (XHB -0.4%). (full report) Comment! [U.S. Economy]
Thursday, May 16, 8:38 AM SPY -0.3% premarket, giving up small early gains after a big jump in jobless claims and a rather shocking decline in housing starts. Starts were off 16.5% from March, but up 13.1% Y/Y. On a more hopeful note, building permits were up 14.3% from March, up 35.8% Y/Y. Treasurys catch a bid, TLT +0.5% premarket. Homebuilders ETF: XHB -0.2%. Comment!
Wednesday, May 15, 10:09 AM NAHB Housing Market Index: +3 to 44, vs. consensus of 43; 41 in April. "Builders are noting an increased sense of urgency among potential buyers as a result of thinning inventories of homes for sale." Builders' main concerns have little to do with demand, and remain centered on rising costs and lot shortages. The XHB is flat. Comment! [U.S. Economy]
Wednesday, May 8, 3:16 PM The bull story on the homebuilders (XHB) still has years to play out, says Steve Eisman, speaking at Ira Sohn under the topic, "Housing: U.S. vs. Canada." He's especially bullish on the land-rich homebuilders - LEN, PHM, SPF - as there's not enough inventory to support demand and land prices will be heading higher, but the purest land play might be Forestar Group (FOR +5.5%), worth $30/share in his opinion. Comment! [Quick Ideas]
Tuesday, April 30, 11:27 AM Home starts are up by huge amounts in a number of the country's hardest-hit (property-wise) areas, according to an advance look from number-crunchers Metrostudy. More interestingly, builders - without replacement projects to "roll into" - are trying to deliberately slow sales by raising prices. The recent drop in builder confidence, suggests Metrostudy, is more about lot costs and labor shortages than low traffic and sales. XHB -1.1%. Comment! [U.S. Economy]
Thursday, April 25, 3:24 PM The Homebuilder ETF (XHB +1.2%) gains after PulteGroup (PHM +5.5%) reported Q1 closings up 23%, with the average selling price up 10%. Meritage Homes (MTH +1.1%) yesterday reported a 17% increase in prices, while Ryland Group (RYL +6.7%) last night said its average price rose 8.2%. "Housing demand is greater than the supply of homes available for sale in many of the areas where we operate," says Meritage CEO Steven Hilton. Comment! [On the Move]
Tuesday, April 23, 11:24 AM Most notable in the New Home Sales report, says Deutsche, is the convergence of sales with starts. For the last few months starts had raced ahead of sales, but the gap closed in March. Maybe not so great for the builders (XHB +2.4%), it appears as if starts have "caught down" to sales as opposed to the other way around. Investors may still be pricing in too high a rate of sales growth. 2 Comments [U.S. Economy]
Wednesday, April 17, 2:17 PM More from Beige Book: The homebuilders (XHB) might like to know most districts reported strong homebuyer demand with sales being restrained by low inventories. New Jersey noted a "marked reduction" in distressed properties. Home construction is picking up in most districts though tight supplies of building materials are stalling things. The NAHB reported a similar issue. Comment! [U.S. Economy]
Tuesday, April 16, 11:29 AM Homebuilder stocks aren't taking much encouragement off the bigger number in Housing Starts today, as the underlying data doesn't appear to be strong enough to offset yesterday's drubbing: BZH -0.7%, TMHC -0.2%, HOV -0.2%, DHI +0.9%, KBH +0.5%, PHM +1.6%, LEN +0.9%, TOL +1%. Building materials suppliers on the other hand don't care what kind of homes are being built, and are having a much better day on the news: LII +2.3%, WSO +2%, SHW +3.3%, LPX +3.6%). Comment!
Tuesday, April 16, 8:39 AM More on Housing Starts: Offsetting the big headline print a bit are building permits, which fell 3.9% vs. forecasts of a 0.3% gain. The gain in housing starts came from multi-family as single-family starts of 619K were off 4.8% from February. S&P 500 futures are just off session highs, +0.9%. Homebuilders ETF: XHB +1.5% premarket. 1 Comment [U.S. Economy]
Monday, April 15, 10:11 AM More on NAHB: Demand isn't the issue. The slide in confidence instead reflects concerns over rising costs for building materials and "frustration over being unable to respond to the rising demand for new homes" - what your grandfather might have called "high-class worries." The XHB -2.5%, +39% Y/Y. 1 Comment [U.S. Economy]
Wednesday, April 3, 3:22 PM Leading the REIT market in performance with a 17.8% gain in Q1 were the mortgage REITs (REZ), according to NAREIT. The mREITs were pounded in Q4 on worries of narrowing interest margins and (likely unfounded) harping over higher dividend tax rates. The entire REIT sector continues to have little trouble raising capital - $22.6B in Q1, up from $19B in Q4. Comment! [Financials]
Thursday, March 28, 8:25 AM The explosion in assets at mREITs may pose risks, but not all of mortgage investors are created alike. Gary Kain's (AGNC) assembled an all-star team of his former Freddie Mac colleagues used to dealing with far larger amounts of assets, but "others have no business having a balance sheet that big," says Compass Point's Jason Stewart. Armour Residential (ARR) is "pushing the limit of what their infrastructure can support." 15 Comments [Financials]
Tuesday, March 26, 10:09 AM More on New Home Sales: The seasonally-adjusted rate of 411K is off 4.6% from January, but up 12.3% Y/Y. Inventory rises to a 4.4 month supply from 4.1 in January, but down from around 5 months a year ago. The XHB gains 0.4%. (full report) 1 Comment [U.S. Economy]
Friday, March 22, 1:05 PM The mREITs are back in favor after the Fed's QE∞ hit interest margins in Q4. A widening yield curve helps, but managements weren't powerless either. Share buybacks below book and altered business plans - Annaly's purchase of CreXus for one, others upping exposure to non-agency RMBS another - are sitting well with investors. Up 2.1% today, NLY is trading above book for the first time in a long time. 2 Comments [Financials, On the Move]
Friday, March 22, 7:50 AM Las Vegas land prices are rising at a "downright scary" pace, according to a new report from Home Builders Research. Land purchased for about $180K/acre late last year is going for $250K-$275K now, with a few parcels in escrow for $350K. The economy remains too weak "to sustain this level of increases," says the report. Let the Fed worry about that. 11 Comments [U.S. Economy]

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