By Caroline Valetkevitch / Guardian.co.uk
June 25, 2009

NEW YORK, June 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose sharply on Thursday, helped by consumer discretionary shares after Bed Bath & Beyond Inc posted a surprising profit increase and home builder Lennar Corp reported a rise in new home sales.

Lennar posted a wider quarterly loss, but noted an increase in new sales and orders. Its stock shot up 16.5 percent to $9.11.

The Dow Jones U.S. home construction index jumped 5.7 percent. Gains in home builders and retailers point to signs of strength in consumer spending, which could be a boon for stocks just as the second-quarter earnings reporting period gets under way.

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By Steve Brown / The Dallas Morning News
June 7, 2009

Earlier this year when federal lawmakers voted to give first-time homebuyers a tax incentive, they hoped the move would boost home sales.

And that seems to be happening.

The offer of an $8,000 tax credit – combined with low mortgage rates – has lured thousands of buyers to the beleaguered housing market.

Keller resident Joe Palacios is one of them. He and his wife are purchasing a new home.

“The tax credit was icing on the cake,” said Palacios, who’s living with friends until the couple’s four-bedroom Pulte home is finished this summer. “My wife and I were looking at apartments that were going for $1,200 a month.

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WASHINGTON–Construction of new homes jumped in May by the largest amount in three months, an encouraging sign that the deep American housing slump is bottoming out.

The commerce department said yesterday that construction of new homes and apartments jumped 17.2 per cent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 532,000 units – better than the 500,000-unit pace economists expected – after construction fell in April to 454,000 units.

In another encouraging sign, applications for building permits, an indicator of future activity, rose 4 per cent in May to an annual rate of 518,000 units.

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The much-touted $8,000 federal tax credit — or at least a good chunk of it — for first-time home buyers is now available to Texas home buyers who want to use the money for a down payment or closing costs.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs this week started a short-term loan program that allows people to get a slice of the $8,000 upfront, then pay it back to the state when their federal tax credit money rolls in.

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Government data are expected to show that new home sales inched up in April, rising for the second straight month as builders start to see long-awaited encouraging signs about the housing market.

New home sales likely rose last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 360,000 units, from 356,000 units in March, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

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A front porch is more than a shelter from the elements. It’s a friendly face on a home, a comfortable bridge between our private lives and our public selves. And almost by its very presence, it conveys neighborliness.

Is it any wonder, then, that in a country where families are often scattered and relocations common, we’d crave a return to the community-building powers of the porch?

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LOS ANGELES — The National Association of Home Builders says its housing market index increased for the second month in a row in May, reflecting growing optimism on the part of many builders.

While still near historically low levels, the Washington-based trade association said Monday the index rose two points to 16, it’s highest reading since September.

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NEW YORK (Dow Jones)– After being saddled with unsold inventory following the housing crash, many home builders all but halted building homes without a signed contract.

But now, the taboo is slowly wearing off so-called “spec” inventory.

Builders realize many buyers want to sell their home before buying again, while first-timers who must close before Dec. 1 to tap the federal tax credit need to ink deals soon. There’s also fierce competition from existing inventory and bargain-priced foreclosures. “In order to be competitive today, you have to have inventory to move into to get a lot of buyers,” said Brent Anderson, vice president of investor relations for Meritage Homes Corp. (MTH). “They want something that’s either completed or nearly completed. If you don’t have inventory on the ground, then you might be out of luck.”

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In the first two months of its existence, more than 600,000 homebuilders across the U.S. have sold homes using the new $8,000 federal tax credit. President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into law in February. As part of $787 billion in economic stimulus measures, the legislation created a homebuyer tax credit that is bigger and better than the previous credit that was implemented in July 2008.

The Web site www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com explains in detail the provisions of the new tax credit. In a nutshell, it:

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Despite huge cuts in the residential construction business, Dallas-Fort Worth still ranks second in the country in new-home sales and starts.

Only Houston had more new-house construction and sales during the 12-month period ending in March, housing analyst Metrostudy Inc. said Tuesday in a new report.

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