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Housing Outlook Shows Little Hope

Springtime usually means good times in the housing industry, but this year it's threatening to become a grim season of reckoning.
Signs of a sobering slowdown emerged throughout March, ranging from gloomy forecasts among homebuilders to a growing number of high-risk borrowers struggling to make payments on exotic mortgages they probably couldn't afford in the first place.
The latest flare came this week as Lennar Corp., one of the nation's largest homebuilders, reported a 73 percent drop in its first-quarter profit and warned that its results for the remainder of the year won't live up to previous expectations.

Labels: Housing, Housing Market, Housing Sector

Stocks Fall on Weak Housing Data

Stocks stumbled Tuesday as new data stirred up worries that the nation's housing market may be slowing sharply enough to seep into the broader economy and crimp consumer spending.
A housing index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor's showed that prices of single-family homes across the nation fell in January compared to a year ago, registering the lowest growth since January 2004. Also causing concern for investors, Lennar Corp., one of the nation's largest homebuilders, said its first-quarter profit tumbled 73 percent and warned that it doesn't expect to meet its 2007 earnings guidance.

Labels: Housing

Housing Construction Plunges

Housing construction plunged to the lowest level in more than six years in October as the nation's once-booming housing market slowed further.
The Commerce Department reported on Friday that construction of new single-family homes and apartments dropped to an annual rate of 1.486 million units last month, down a sharp 14.6 percent from the September level.
The decline, bigger than had been expected, was the largest percentage decline in 19 months and pushed total activity down to the lowest level since July 2000.
Applications for new building permits, seen as a good sign of future plans, fell for an eighth consecutive month, declining 6.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.535 million units.

Labels: Commerce Department, Housing, Housing Construction