The US housing market is anything but healthy and even most bullish of realtors (especially since “it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it”) is admitting that all is not well.
As interest rates have soared, US housing data has collapsed at a pace not seen since 2008…
Construction has slowed, sales have dropped, home prices have decelerated, and sentiment in the sector has deteriorated. The sharp underperformance of homebuilder stocks suggests that investors expect the sector to continue to struggle.
And, as famed housing-watcher Robert Shiller notes, the weakening housing market is similar to the last market high, just before the subprime housing bubble burst a decade ago.
The economist, who predicted the 2007-2008 crisis, told Yahoo Finance that current data shows “a sign of weakness.”
“This is a sign of weakness that we’re starting to see. And it reminds me of 2006 … Or 2005 maybe,”
Housing pivots take more time than those in the stock market, Shiller said, adding that:
“the housing market does have a momentum component and we’re seeing a clipping of momentum at this time.”
The Nobel Laureate explained:
“If the markets go down, it could bring on another recession. The housing market has been an important element of economic activity. If people start to get pessimistic about housing and pull back and don’t want to buy, there will be a drop in construction jobs and that could be a seed for another recession.”
When reminded that 2006 predated the greatest financial crisis in a lifetime, RT notes that Shiller acknowledged that any correction would likely be far less severe.
“The drop in home prices in the financial crisis was the most severe drop in the US market since my data begin in 1890,” the Yale economist said.
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