Tag Archives: New home sales

A Bearish Signal From Housing Stocks

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The yield on the 10-yr Treasury has blown out 109 basis points since July 3rd – 70 basis points since October 30th. 30yr fixed rate mortgage rates for 20% down payment buyers with a credit score of at least 720 are up 90 basis points since October 1st.

Interestingly, the Dow Jones Home Construction index has diverged from the S&P 500. While the DJUSHB index is up since election night, it has been lagging the S&P 500 since the beginning of the year:

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The graph above is a 1yr daily which compares the ROR on the SPX with that of the DJ Home Construction Index. I use the DJUSHB because it has the heaviest weighting in homebuilders of any of the real estate indices. As you can see, the DJUSHB has been in a downtrend since late August, almost as if stock investors were anticipating the big spike in interest rates that started about 6 weeks later. You can see that, while the volume in the DJUSHB spiked on December 5th, it’s been declining steadily since then. The SPX volume spiked up on December 5th and has maintained roughly the same daily level since then. Note: volume often precedes price direction.

Here’s another interesting graphic sourced from the Mortgage Bankers Association:

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The data is through December 2nd, as mortgage application data lags by a week. As you can see, mortgage application volume – both refinance and purchase – has been negative to highly negative in 9 of the last 12 weeks. So, if you want to sell mortgage note it is worth doing thorough research before you do.

A report by Corelogic was released today that asserted that foreclosures had fallen to “bubble-era” lows. This is not unexpected. Historically low rates have enabled a lot mortgagees who were in trouble to defer their problems by refinancing. Unfortunately, the Marketwatch author of the article did not do thorough research – also not unexpected.

As it turns out, mortgage delinquency rates are quickly rising:

Black Knight Financial Services, which provides data and analytics to the mortgage industry, released its Mortgage Monitor report for October. It reported that the 30+ day delinquency rate had risen “unexpectedly” by nearly 2%. The overall national delinquency rate is now up to 4.35%. It also reported a quarterly decline in purchase mortgage lending. The highest degree of slowing is among borrowers with 740+ credit scores. The 740+ segment has accounted for 2/3’s of all of the purchase volume – Short Seller’s Journal – December 11, 2016

Even more interesting, it was reported by RealtyTrac last week that home foreclosures in the U.S. increased 27% in October from September. It was the largest month to month percentage increase in foreclosures since August 2007. Foreclosures in Colorado soared
64%, which partially explains the rising inventory I’m seeing (with my own eyes). Foreclosure starts were up 25% from September, the biggest monthly increase since December 2008.

Finally, again just like the mid-2000’s housing bubble, NYC is showing definitive signs that its housing market is crumbling very quickly. Landlord rent concessions soared 24% in October, more than double the 10.4% concession rate in October 2015. Typical concessions include one free month or payment of broker fees at lease signing. Days to lease an apartment on average increased 15% over 2015 in October to 46 days. And inventory listings are up 23% year over year. Note: in the big housing bubble, NYC was one of the first markets to pop. Short Seller’s Journal – November 13, 2016

Finally, I saw an idiotic article in some rag called “The Sovereign Daily Investor” that was promoting the notion that another big boom in housing was about to occur because of a surge in buying by millennials. Unfortunately, the dope who wrote this article forgot to find data that would verify proof of concept. On the other hand, here’s actual data that applies heavily to the millennial demographic:

The Fed reported on Wednesday that household debt had hit a near-record $12.35 trillion led by new all-time highs in student loan debt ($1.28 trillion) and a new all-time high in auto loans ($1.14 trillion). 11% of aggregate student loan debt was 90+ days delinquent or in default at the end of Q3 2016. Fitch has projected that it expects the subprime auto loan default rate to hit 10% by the end of the year. At the time of the report, it was at 9%. – Short Seller’s Journal – December 4, 2016.

The point here is that the millennial demographic is overburdened with student loan, auto loan and personal loan debt and with pay day loans constantly rising, homeownership is becoming a challenge for these people. In addition, it’s becoming increasingly hard to find post-college full-time employment that pays enough to support the cost of home ownership, especially with the mortgage payments associated with a 3% down payment mortgage. This is the dynamic that has fueled the rental market boom (and soon the rental housing bust).

Speaking of which, Blackstone, the largest player in the buy-to-rent game, quietly filed an IPO of its housing rental portfolio about a week ago. If Blackstone thought there was more value to be squeezed out of its portfolio – i.e. that housing prices and rents had more upside – it would have waited longer to file. I’m sure that Blackstone would love to get this IPO priced and its equity stake in this business unloaded on to the public before the market cracks.

The housing market data tends to be lagged and extremely massaged by the most widely followed housing data reporters – National Association of Realtors and the Government’s Census Bureau (existing and new home sales reports). The reports from these two sources are highly unstable, subject to big revisions that go unnoticed and entirely unreliable. But the fundamental statistics cited above will soon be filtering through the earnings reports of the companies in the DJ Home Construction Index. I would suggest that the market has already sniffed this out, which explains why the DJUSHB is diverging from the S&P 500 negatively in both direction and volume.

The Short Seller’s Journal is a subscription-based, weekly publication. I present in-depth detailed data, analysis and insight that is not presented by the mainstream financial media and often not found on alternative media websites. I also present short-sell ideas, including recommendations for using options. Despite the run-up in the broad market indices, there’s stocks everyday that blow-up. Last Restoration Hardware plunged 18% after reporting its earnings. You can subscribe to the Short Seller’s Journal by clicking on this link: SSJ Subscription. It’s monthly recurring and there is not a minimum number of months required.

More On The Government’s Fraudulent New Home Sales Report

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This is from a reader who posted this comment:

I live in “the south” in a very very nice area by the beach.  A “developer” built over 20 new homes and purchased several more lots to build on.  His last home sold 6 months ago and the rest stay EMPTY!  Lock box, not sold, and some for sale signs have been taken off to decrease competition from the other people trying to sell their home.

The average asking price is $500,000 .  The lots are cleared but undeveloped. He put a sign up on one lot to show the home that “could” be built there IF anyone purchased it.
In short… IT’S OVER! WE’RE BACK TO 2007 LOOKING DOWN AT A DEEPER AND STEEPER DECLINE!

I’m beginning to think that the Census Bureau now includes “intent to sell” as a “sale” because I’m sure there’s a lot of people who are thinking of selling of in order  to “get ahead of the market.”  Sorry, it’s too late.

More On Yesterday’s New Home Sales Fraud

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As I detailed yesterday – LINK – yesterday’s new home sales report was complete fiction. Notwithstanding all of the other statistical manipulations that go into the Government’s Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate of sales metric, including flawed data sampling, Mark Hanson – who does cutting edge housing market analysis – reduced yesterday’s new home sales report to its essence:

A rounded 4,000 more homes sold on a Not Seasonally Adjusted basis than in June, ALL from the Southern region.  This added up to a massive 72,000 month to month and 114,000 year over year Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate surge and headlines of “9-year highs,” all due to bogus seasonal adjustments that should not have applied due to the number of weekends in the month…”  – Mark Hanson, M Hanson Advisors

The 4,000 more homes sold in the South month to month more than likely results from flawed data collection, for which the Census Bureau is notorious.  But even assuming that the number is good, the Government’s “seasonal adjustment” sausage grinder translated that into 72,000 more homes sold in July vs June and 114,000 year over year on a Seasonally Manipulated Annualized Rate basis.

Not to pile on to what now should be the obvious fact that the Government’s new home sales report is not more credible than its employment report – both for which the Census Bureau collects the data – Credit Suisse published research earlier in this month for July in which its market surveys showed that:

  •  its “buyer” index declined in July to 40 from 41 in June;
  • expected traffic declined in 29 of 40 markets in July vs 25 in June – including Portland, Seattle and New York experiencing “sharp declines;”
  • “Florida markets remained depressed;”
  • California overall was lower in July

Finally, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that purchase mortgage demand hit a 6-month low in July.  New Home “sales” are based on contracts signed.   If mortgage applications and contract signings are highly correlated, as 93% of all new home buyers use a mortgage.  If mortgage applications are declining, it means that contract signings are declining.

How on earth is it at all possible that the Government was able to measure a 9-year high in new home sales for July when every other actual market transaction indicator declined, some precipitously?

The housing market is headed south right now.  Inventory is piling up all over metro-Denver, especially in the high-end areas.  Emails to me from readers who are industry professionals all over the country are reporting similar occurrences in their areas.

The Government can populate the news headlines with fraudulent propaganda – something which has become de rigeur – but propaganda and fraudulent economic reports do not generate real economic activity.  At some point the elitists running the system will be at a loss to explain the difference between their lies and reality.  That’s when we’re all in big trouble…

BREXIT Is Being Used To Deflect From The Economic Collapse

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I actually could care less about BREXIT.   I have yet to encounter any valid analysis on why the issue matters at all.  What is valid is that the BREXIT theatrical show is being used to deflect scrutiny of the continuous economic reports  showing that the U.S. economy is collapsing.

The Chicago Fed National Activity index released today plunged to -.51 against Wall Street’s expectation of a .11 gain.  Last months data-point was revised lower to barely positive.  The way that this index is calculated, it takes a lot to move the needle.  A drop from a revised lower .05 to -.51 reflects heavy contraction in economic activity across a broad (85 indicators) spectrum of the economy.  The 3-month moving average declined from -.25 – which was revised lower from the original .22 reported – to -.36.

New home sales reported today – for whatever the data series is worth – indicated an 11% plunge from the previously reported number for April, which of course was revised lower. May’s print was down 6% from the revision.  Ironically,  yesterday the National Association of Realtor’s Chief Economic Clown was extolling the virtues of new home construction and sales activity.  Oops.

I suggested yesterday that existing home sales report was highly overstated by the seasonal adjustments imposed on the data collected.  The Census Bureau, which prepares the new homes sales data series, has admitted in the past its estimation and adjustment models tend to overstate sales when actual sales are in a downtrend.  Ergo, the incessant downward revisions of previous reports.  Same with existing home sales, as the NAR uses the same statistical modelling package as the Census Bureau.  The NAR’s report yesterday contained a significant downward revision for April’s report, not coincidentally.

To be sure, there are still some hot pockets of housing activity around the country.  But most of the large economic areas are experiencing falling demand, falling prices and rising inventory, especially in the upper price segment of the market.  The collapse of the current housing bubble will be even more spectacular than the last bubble collapse.

The U.S. economy is collapsing.  In the “inside out” world of U.S. financial media Orwellian propaganda, today’s jobless claims number is being used to substantiate a “tight labor market.”  That’s a complete fairy tale.  The reason jobless claims are historically low right now is that the number of workers as a percentage of the workforce who qualify to apply for benefits when they get fired is at a historical low.  This fact is substantiated by the historically low labor participation rate and the percentage of the workforce that is now part-time.   Part-timers do no qualify for company healthcare or unemployment insurance.  It’s that simple. the  I would question the data if jobless claims were high.

So the entire financial world is focused on what is largely an irrelevant  referendum  on whether or not the UK will remain in the EU.   Meanwhile, the rug is being pulled out from under the entire western economy, including and especially the U.S. economy.

Housing Sales Start To Tank As Suprime Auto Loan Delinquencies Soar

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Note:  For the record, I am expecting the possibility that the new homes sales report for February released today will show an unexpected spike up.  For the past several months, there’s been what I believe to be a pre-meditated pattern in which the existing home sales data series and the new home data series move in the opposite direction.  Let’s see if the trend continues.

The existing home sales data series has become as erratic and unpredictable as the Census Bureau’s new home sales report.  One can only wonder about the reliability of the National Association of Realtors reporting methodology when its Chief “Economist” repetitively states month after month that “job growth continues to hum along at a robust pace.”  Any economist who uses the Census Bureau’s monthly employment report as their evidence that the U.S. economy is producing meaningful, income-producing jobs is either just another propaganda mouthpiece or is of questionable intelligence.  Either way a statement like that is highly unprofessional.

You must be wondering why I’m connecting home sales to the recent data which shows that subprime auto loan delinquency rates are soaring (here and here).  Let me explain.

All cash sales of existing homes in February were reported to be 25% of all sales in February, down from 26% in January.  This means that 75% of existing home sales (93% of new home sales) are dependent on mortgage financing.  The FHA has been underwriting 3.5% down payment mortgages since 2008.  3.5% down payment mortgages are nothing more than sub-prime mortgages “dressed in drag.”  The FHA’s share of the mortgage market soared from about 2% at the beginning of the 2008 to around 20% currently (plus or minus a percent or two).  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been issuing 5% down mortgages for quite some time and lowered the down payment to 3% in early 2015.

If you require a 5% or less down payment to buy a home, you are a subprime credit risk, I don’t care what your FICO score it.

First time buyers represent about 30% of all existing home sales.  A good bet is that the first time buyer segment almost exclusively uses the lowest down payment possible to buy a home.  RealtyTrac issued a report in June 2015 which showed that low down payment purchases hit  a 2-year high in Q1 2015 and accounted for 83% of all FHA purchase mortgages.  Understandably RealtyTrac has not updated this report.  My bet would be that somewhere between 30-50% of all purchase mortgages were of the low down payment variety, or clearly de facto subprime quality.

The Wall Street Journal published an article last year which discussed the rising trend in low to no down payment mortgages:  Down Payments Get Smaller.

This is where soaring subprime auto loan delinquencies come into play.  To the extent that a potential home buyer is behind on his auto loan, it will impede his ability to take out a mortgage of any down payment variety.  In fact, I believe that the U.S. financial system has hit the wall in terms of the amount of debt that can be “absorbed” by potential borrowers. Auto loans and student loans outstanding hit new record highs daily, with both well over a combined $2 trillion outstanding.   In my opinion, this is why existing home sales dropped 7.1% from January, more than double the 3.1% decline forecast by Wall Street.

The National Association of Realtor’s Chief Clown attributes the big drop in home sales in February to “affordability.”  But this is statement seeded either in ignorance or fraud.  Forget the Case-Shiller housing price comic book.  Nearly every major MSA has now entered into the continuous “new price” vortex.  This has been going on Denver since last June.  I’m getting reports from readers all over the country describing the same dynamic in their markets.  This problem is especially acute the high end.  Besides, every mortgage sales portal in existence markets a calculator that take your monthly income and calculates how much house you can “afford.”  Price has nothing to do with ability to get approved for a mortgage.

Speaking of “affordability,”  the cost of financing home dropped to 3.66% in February, it’s lowest rate since April 2015.  In other words, the cost of buying a home actually became more affordable in February.

“There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion”  – Ludwig Von Mises.  The Fed and the Government prevented the collapse of the system that was set in motion by the housing/mortgage market in 2008.  As Von Mises stated, “The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as a result of voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion , or later as a final and total collapse of the currency system involved.”

I believe that it is quite likely that the Fed’s ability to push further credit expansion has reached, or is close to, its limits.  The soaring delinquency rates of auto loans and a housing market which is likely beginning to tip over now reflect this reality.

I was early in 2004 when I predicted a collapse in the housing market.  I underestimated Greenspan and Bernanke’s ability to expand mortgage credit.  I was once again early in predicting the demise of the current housing bubble.  Again, I underestimated the Fed’s ability and the Government’s willingness to stuff the average American up to his/her eyeballs in debt.  Regardless of flaws in predictive abilities with regard to timing, my overall analysis materialized in 2008 and it’s a good bet that it’s coming to fruition once again – only this time it is likely that the Fed will be helpless in preventing the inevitable.

Energy Debt Is Imploding – Housing Market To Follow

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“The banks are still clinging to their reserve reports and praying. The bonds are all toast. Most are in the single digits or teens.”

I asked a former colleague of mine from my Bankers Trust junk bond days who is now a distressed debt trader what was going on in the secondary market for energy sector bank debt and junk bonds. The quote above was his response.

Zerohedge posted a report last night with a Bloomberg article linked that describes what is going on – “Assets selling for far less than what companies owe lenders – Creditors are left holding prospects no one wants to buy.” the article further cites the ridiculously small reserves that four biggest banks in the energy sector have set aside: “Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. — have set aside at least $2.5 billion combined to cover souring energy loans and have said they’ll add to that if prices stay low” – (Bloomberg).

Considering that those four banks combined probably have at least $100 billion of exposure to sector – not counting the unknowable amount of credit default swaps and other funky OTC derivative configurations the financalized Thomas Edisons at these banks dreamed up – the $2.5 billion in loss reserves is a complete joke. It’s an insult to our collective intelligence. Of course, Congress and the SEC took care of the problem of forcing banks to do a bona fide mark to market after the 2008 financial crash.

This is the 2008 “The Big Short” scenario Part 2. The banks underwrote over $500 billion in debt they knew was backed by largely fraudulent reserve estimates. I bet most of the “professional” investors at pension funds and mutual fund companies were not even aware that oil extracted from shale formations trades at a big discount to WTI. When creditors go to grab assets in liquidation, they’ll get a few handfuls of dirt to resell. And when the bondholders go to grab assets, they’ll get an armful of air.

The same dynamic is about to invade and infect the housing market. Notwithstanding the incredulous existing home sales report released on Friday – (how can the NAR expect us to believe that December experienced the largest one month percentage increase in existing home sales in history when the economy is sliding into recession and retail sales were a disaster?) – the housing market is on the cusp of imploding. I was expecting to see a unusually high number of new listings hit the Denver market right after Jan 1st and so far my expectations have been met. The acceleration of new listings is being accompanied by a flood of “new price” notices. I believe a rapid deterioration in home sales activity will take a lot of the housing bulls by surprise.

The stock market’s reflection of my assertions about the housing market is exemplified by the homebuilder stock I feature in this week’s issue of the Short Seller’s Journal. This stock is down 16% from when I first published a stock report on this Company in 2014. This is a remarkable fact considering that the S&P 500 is down only 4% in the same time period AND the Dow Jones Home Construction Index UP 8% in that time period. This company happens to originate a high percentage of the mortgages used to finance the sale of its homes.

The company relies on an ability to dump these mortgages into the CDO and Bespoke Tranche Opportunity configures conjured up by Wall Street in order to seduce dumb pension and mutual fund money into higher yielding “safe” assets. As the energy debt market implodes, it will cause the entire Wall Street supported asset-backed credit market to seize up. The next biggest losers after the energy sector will autos and housing. Businesses owners looking to improve their utility bills may want to check out commercial electricity quotes 2019 for more information on affordable energy.

This week’s Short Seller’s Journal features the above housing stock plus a copy of the report I originally published (the data is old but the ideas behind why the stock is a short are intact, if not more pronounced) plus I have presented two “Quick Hit” energy sector stock short ideas. All three ideas are accompanied with my suggestions for using puts and calls to replicate shorting the stock You can access this report here:Untitled

 

 

Statistical Witches Brew Belies The Truth About The Housing Market

Financial Markets, Housing Market, U.S. Economy, , , , ,

The fundamentals of housing are so weak that when the tide does start to go out because of different possible catalysts, it’s going to reveal a mess.  – comment to me from a reader who is watching the disintegration of the housing market “recovery” in California

Despite all of the bullhorn, rah rah rhetoric coming from the National Association of Realtor’s chief cheerleader, Lawrence Yun, the massive intervention in the housing market by the Fed and the Government is beginning to fade quickly.   I guess in the face of evidence far too overwhelming and obvious to cover up with propaganda-laced sound-bytes about “strong jobs growth” and “low inventory,”  the NAR has been forced to admit that the energy market depression – LINK.  At some point, when the “tide does start go out,” everyone is going to wonder why the NAR’s seasonally adjusted hocus pocus data has not transmitted into actual, bona fide sales.

I wrote an article for Seeking Alpha which explains the corrupted foundation underlying the NAR’s statistical witches brew.  In fact, I have evidence direct from the Fed that shows the “low inventory” narrative is 100% false – sales and inventory levels are actually inversely correlated.  Funny thing, that.  But it won’t be funny to the people who chased the price of their dream higher by listening to the “wisdom” of their “friendly” house broker.  You can read my article here:   Existing Home Sales For October Drop More Than Expected.

I toured some middle/upper middle neighborhoods yesterday that up until recently had very little on the market.  Mysteriously, a lot of homes seemed to have popped up on the market for sale in the last few weeks.   I was wondering if perhaps the home broker community had convinced their “pending” sellers to list their homes for Black Friday Month.  You have wonder, what is going on that would cause someone to list their home going into the slowest seasonal period of the year for homes sales?

Housing Starts Plunge 11% – Signals Renewed Downturn In The Housing Market

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The monthly contraction of 11.0% (-11.0%) in October 2015 housing starts was muted by a downside revision to September 2015 activity, yet it came in well below already-negative market expectations…With headline negative detail in October, and downside revisions to August and September detail, the aggregate housing-starts count fell at a revised annualized-quarterly pace of 1.6% (-1.6%)…Based on October’s one-month reporting, the aggregate housing-starts count was on target to contract an annualized quarterly pace of 28.6% (-28.6%) in fourth-quarter 2015.   – John Williams, ShadowStats.com

It’s happening everywhere, not just in Denver.  The “for sale” signs are piling up at the wrong time of year for people to be listing their homes and the “price reduced” signs tell us the sellers are chasing prices lower.   The statistically brewed inventory measurement metric published by the  National Association of Realtors has big lag built into it.  Especially when the current rate of monthly sales is well below the seasonally adjusted, annualized rate cesspool that vomited out by Larry Yun and his confederacy of statistical dunces.

Anyone who bought a home anywhere in the country, except maybe a in a few statistical outlier areas (and those areas will soon catch down to the rest of the market), with a 10% down or less mortgage within the last six months is now underwater, especially when transaction/closing costs are factored in.  Most “first-time” buyers have been using 0-3.5% down mortgages.  They’re now drowned in mortgage debt.

The pundits will blame the housing starts report on a big drop in multi-family unit starts.   The the housing starts numbers originally reported in August and September were revised lower.   It doesn’t matter.  Almost every major city either has a glut of apartment buildings now or will soon.  The truth is, single-family unit housing starts have been flat to down all year.

One of the best “hidden” indicators that the housing market is now contracting is in mortgage activity.  LoanDepot Inc had to pull its IPO late last week – LINK.  LoanDepot is part of the non-bank mortgage lender segment of the mortgage industry, which now accounts for 40% of all mortgage dollars originated.   There’s a lot of reasons this deal was pulled, but perhaps the biggest one was that LoanDepot’s mortgage volume took a big hit in Q3.   When home sales slow down, less mortgages are originated.  Pretty simple math.  It also suggests that professional investors see the same downturn in housing that I see.

Although the dynamics of the current housing market “boom-let” differ from the dynamics of the big housing bubble.   What has occurred since 2010 is a Fed/Government stimulated dead-cat bounce in the context of the secular bear market in housing.  The policy-makers, urged on by the greedy bankers and housing industry chieftains, never allowed the “cleansing” process from the housing bubble to clear itself out.   There’s been plenty of mortgage fraud and subprime activity, but it’s been better disguised over the last couple of years.

The homebuilder stocks are now one of the most overvalued sectors of the stock market. With careful 2ReportSpecialpositioning and trading, there is a lot money to be made on the downside with these stocks.  Despite the recent run-up in the S&P 500, the stock prices of my two most recent homebuilder reports are still below their price when I posted these reports.  One of them experienced declining new home sales unit closings for the past two quarters and one of them, quite frankly, may hit the wall in last quarter of 2016.  My reports show in detail why these two stocks can be profitably shorted – including suggestions/examples on using puts and calls to replicate shorting a stock – and I am offering them together for a special price.  Click on this link or the pic on the right to take advantage of this opportunity:   Homebuilder 2-report Special

Retail Sales Are Crashing – Housing Sales Are Next

Financial Markets, Housing Market, U.S. Economy, , , ,

Flippers are getting stuck with houses they can’t flip for a profit. Hedge funds have stopped buying and have begun selling. Anyone dumb enough to have been lured into this market in the last few years will be underwater in no time. The foreclosure train will be leaving the station shortly. We’ve been here before. It was ten years ago. Some people never learn.  – The Burning Platform

Last week in the stock market featured several “cliff-dive” drops in retail stocks:  Macy’s, Nordstroms, Advance Auto Parts.  The middle class (yes, “middle class” includes the wannabees living beyond their means in million-dollar “mcmansions”) is tapped out of disposable income and has run up against is ability to take on more debt.   The Nordstrom’s report is what has really freaked out economic analysts:  LINK.

The housing market will show the affects of a rapidly deteriorating economy next.   I noticed something had changed in the housing market in mid-summer based on all of the available data I analyze.  Interestingly, the CEO of Redfin agrees with me:  Something We’ve Seen In The Last Month Should Make You Worried About The Housing Market.

I noticed that the number of listings all around Denver began to increase rapidly.  The NAR’s manipulated “months supply” metric is lagged by a few months and does not pick up big increases in listings right away.  I  noticed this especially in the higher-end areas all around Denver.  My observations have been confirmed in San Francisco:   LINK and in New York:   LINK and NYC/Washington DC:  LINK.

The small bump up in home sales that resulted from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lowering their down payment requirement from 5% to 3%  has now run its course.  It’s pulled sales forward and coerced a lot of people to overpay for a home – most of them are households that, over the long term, can not afford the monthly cost of homeownership.   Anyone who bought a home within the last 6 months in almost every major city and used a 10% or less down payment is now underwater vs. their mortgage.  Many are now starting to realize this which is part of the reason retail sales are tanking.

The homebuilder stocks are now more overvalued than they were at the peak of the housing bubble – using ANY financial metric.   What’s different is that the Fed is now out artificial fuel to power the next phony housing “recovery.”  The homebuilder stock are set up for a spectacular drop.

My two most recent reports are being offered for a short period of time in a two-report special price.  Each report is $30 or you can buy both reports for $45:    Two Homebuilder Stock Report Special

Note:  If you have purchased either the Low End Homebuilder report or the Red Flag Alert report, please contact me if you are interested in adding the other report for $15.

One more point of note:  DO NOT overlook or underestimate the fact that big homebuilders like Lennar are now offering ZERO-DOWN mortgage financing in many of their new home communities.  Lennar is not the only homebuilder offering mortgage incentives to move homes.  Many homebuilders are now showing a big increase in “mortgages held for sale.”  These are mortgages that can not be off-loaded on to the taxpayer because they are subprime quality.   The homebuilders are stuffed to the gills with inventory right now.  

This Homebuilder Could Default In 2016

Financial Markets, Housing Market, U.S. Economy, , ,

UPDATE: This stock is down over 3% today and headed lower

I was responsible for forecasting at Toll Brothers during the peak bubble years. My forecasting model showed a massive downtrun coming. The CFO refused to look at and consider my forecast.  Bob Toll ignored the signs and bought $1 billion of land at the peak in 2006. I saw the writing on the wall and quit before the brown stuff hit the fan I left the company to dodge the coming storm. Toll then lost money for 14 quarters in a row…It’s about to happen again.  – email yesterday from a well-known blogger

We’ve seen four homebuilders report their quarterly and or fiscal year end results so far. Two builders showed considerable unit volume delivery declines and two reported increases.  Going forward from here it will be all down hill.

In revising and updating my stock report for one particular homebuilder, I discovered that this Company has a huge debt repayment in second half of 2016.  This company must be worried about that because for the first time since 2012, it did not add homes to its inventory, it only replaced what it sold.  It’s cash balance still declined significantly year over year.

The stock is still down 22% from its price when I first published this report.  Even if I’m still early BlogPicon my call for the overall market, and I’m more confident everyday that the market is in trouble, this Company’s stock will likely head lower.   The section on prudent capital management and using options (puts and calls) has been updated to reflect my current suggestions.

Despite an increase in both price and unit deliveries, this Company’s operating income declined year BlogLOGOover year for its fiscal year.  That fact alone tells us that something is wrong with the way this Company operates.  Imagine that, in the greatest new home price inflationary environment in history, this Company is still having trouble generating a profit.

You can access this report here:  This Homebuilder Could Face Involvency In 2016.  The section on prudent capital management and using options (puts and calls) has been updated to reflect my current suggestions.