Homebuilders

Homebuilder sentiment fell to a nine-month low in October, the latest indication of the toll on residential real estate from soaring mortgage rates and declining affordability.

Analysts say major single-day declines are historically attractive entry points for builders. Homebuilding stocks have only seen 55 instances of single-day declines of more than 5% since the global financial crisis, according to the firm. 

On average since 1970, new home sales volumes decline 7% month-over-month in September and 13% quarter-over-quarter in the final months of the year, according to analysts. 

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo gauge declined 5 points to 45 after sliding 6 points a month earlier. That marked the largest back-to-back decrease in nearly a year.

Loan applications for single-family constructions jumped for the seventh month in a row, with increasing interest coming from first-time buyers, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Decreased availability of bank capital for new commercial construction helped slow activity from the previous nine quarters, according to a new report.

Purchases of new single-family homes increased 4.4% to an annualized 714,000 pace after downward revisions to prior months, government data showed Wednesday.

The share is the largest on record for a second quarter, according to data from Redfin.

Lenders appear to be loosening underwriting a little and the construction industry may be on track to lower new home prices by 10%-15% this year.

Residential starts increased 3.9% last month to a 1.45 million annualized rate, according to government data released Wednesday.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo gauge decreased six points to a three-month low of 50. The figure was below all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Loans to buy newly constructed properties increased by 0.2% from June and was up 35.5% compared to the year prior, the Mortgage Bankers Association found.

But that was offset by a decrease in most other residential construction materials, the National Association of Home Builders said.

The cohort is outperforming the broader market — up more than 50% year-to-date versus the S&P 500's 18% gain. 

Nonbank brokers and lenders typically scale back after the spring homebuying season and the housing market could be particularly slow for the rest of this year.

Purchases of new single-family homes fell 2.5% to an annualized 697,000 pace after a downward revision to the prior month, government data showed Wednesday.

"I do believe you'll begin to see some improvement, or increases, in new housing as we head into the back half of the year," Chief Financial Officer Jim Peters said in an interview. "We're hearing optimistic stuff from the builders we deal with."

Rising interest rates during June worked to hold potential new homebuyers out of the market, the Mortgage Bankers Association's Builder Application Survey found.

Residential starts fell 8% last month to a 1.43 million annualized rate, according to government data released Wednesday.

The nearly 8% growth on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis is well above the historical average, according to the government-sponsored enterprise.