Continue Reading June 16th, 2009
The notion that real estate could be a safe haven may seem like investing lunacy right now. After all, the words “real estate” conjure nightmares of the nation’s decimated housing industry and the downward spiral of commercial real estate. And yet, as often happens, the wreckage of the sector is creating opportunities: a group of dependable real estate investment trusts (REITs) whose prices have been pummeled so badly that their yields are nearing double digits.
Read more »
Continue Reading June 16th, 2009
Construction of new homes jumped 17% in May to an annual rate of 532,000, according to the Commerce Department. That was up from the record low of 454,000 homes in April. Applications for new home permits also rose 4% to an annual rate of 518,000 units. The good news helped lift the stock market today.
Still all this is a far cry from when the homebuilding industry was happy and healthy. In 2005 and 2006, the industry sold over one million new homes a year.
Builders remain cautious. The National Association of Home Builders said just yesterday that its index of home builder sentiment fell one point in June. “The outlook for home sales has improved somewhat in recent months, due largely to implementation of the first-time home buyer tax credit and gains in housing affordability,” said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. “Looking forward, home builders are facing a few headwinds, including expiration of the tax credit at the end of November; a recent upturn in interest rates; and especially the continuing lack of credit for housing production loans.”
Construction starts were strongest in the West and South, weakest in the Northeast.
Read more »
Continue Reading June 16th, 2009
The nation’s builders boosted their production in May, starting new housing units at an annualized rate of 532,000, up 17.2% from the revised estimate of 454,000 in April.
Read more »