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Is There Hope for Home-Related Investments & Home Builder Stocks
By Andrew Leckey
Home is where the heart is, but it hasn't been much of a profit center lately.
Recession and declining property values have hit homeowners hard, which is bad news for investments tied to homes and property. Homebuilders, home improvement centers and real estate investment trusts are left to pin their hopes on an economic revival.
Homebuilder stocks, bounced around on the conflicting signals of foreclosures and rising mortgage rates versus declining inventories and pockets of recovery, are up modestly as a group this year.
"We like the homebuilder stocks because there's an upside between now and the end of the year, as losses start to mediate and we see more signs that housing has stabilized," said Megan McGrath, homebuilder analyst with
For now, easing in the rate of sales decline and fewer reductions in home prices are reasonable expectations, McGrath said, but it may take a quarter or two before the outlook can be described as truly positive.
"The new-home market, with sales at historic lows, is only 10 percent of the total housing market but plummeted faster than existing home sales due to the supply of foreclosed and distressed property," McGrath said. "However, new-home sales have reached a significant low point, and we've started seeing stable numbers since the beginning of the year."
Bottoming of the new-home market represents a buying opportunity in homebuilder stocks, she said.
"I'm cautious on the homebuilders because, while sales over the next few months are going to be good since there is still some momentum, price pressure will continue to squeeze profit margins," warned David Urani, homebuilder analyst with the Wall Street Strategies independent research firm, New York. "Some of the big impairment charges these firms are taking will likely continue."
Urani doesn't expect homebuilders to actually revive until 2010. Nonetheless, he likes the stock of
The two analysts also have definite dislikes. Both are steering clear of
As the housing market goes, so go home improvement centers. Their stocks have managed to rally somewhat from their lows set earlier in the year.
"A major factor that benefits these retailers is that they operate in a duopoly --
Souers has a "buy" on stock of Lowe's
It could be several years before home improvement centers see a significant pickup in remodeling and overall demand, Soeurs said. In the meantime, he finds it commendable that both chains own so much of their own real estate --
Real estate investment trusts (REITs), dividend-producing investments that use the pooled capital of investors to purchase properties, have been volatile and are down about 20 percent as a group this year.
"REITs are going to be in a trading range for the rest of this year, and their eventual catalyst will be their ability to acquire assets from distressed sellers," said Chris Lucas, senior real estate analyst with
He likes
"REITs are often used as a defensive investment because of the dividends they pay," Lucas said. "So it wouldn't surprise me if at some point investors started to look to well-capitalized REITs as a safety play."
Investing - Is There Hope for Home-Related Investments & Home Builder Stocks
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