Advertisement
Canada markets open in 4 hours 15 minutes
  • S&P/TSX

    21,837.18
    -12.02 (-0.06%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,149.42
    +32.33 (+0.63%)
     
  • DOW

    38,790.43
    +75.63 (+0.20%)
     
  • CAD/USD

    0.7367
    -0.0022 (-0.30%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    82.68
    -0.04 (-0.05%)
     
  • Bitcoin CAD

    85,531.82
    -6,420.22 (-6.98%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,155.90
    -8.40 (-0.39%)
     
  • RUSSELL 2000

    2,024.74
    -14.58 (-0.72%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.3400
    0.0000 (0.00%)
     
  • NASDAQ futures

    18,227.25
    -4.25 (-0.02%)
     
  • VOLATILITY

    14.45
    +0.12 (+0.84%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,716.71
    -5.84 (-0.08%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,003.60
    +263.20 (+0.66%)
     
  • CAD/EUR

    0.6789
    -0.0003 (-0.04%)
     

A top US homebuilder is cashing in on a big problem in the housing market

America’s “next housing crisis” is not about crashing prices due to a lack of demand, but rather is an affordability crisis centered on a lack of supply.

And in its third-quarter earnings report released Thursday, PulteGroup (PHM) — one of America’s largest homebuilders — outlined exactly how this benefits the company: higher selling prices.

“Of particular note, the 25% increase in the value of our Q3 orders, one of the largest gains we have realized in years, benefited from the increased land investments we made in recent years and strong sales activity across all buyer groups, as first time, move up and active adult all gained over last year,” said PulteGroup CEO Ryan Marshall in the company’s earnings release.

ADVERTISEMENT

In the third quarter, Pulte’s revenues rose 29% to $1.94 billion, just below the $1.95 billion analysts had expected, according to estimates from Yahoo Finance. Pulte’s average selling price rose 11%, or $37,000, to $374,000 in the third quarter. Third quarter profit came in at $0.37 per share, including a $0.06 per share restructuring charge. Wall Street was looking for earnings of $0.44 per share.

Marshall added that, “With U.S. new home sales for 2016 on track to grow in excess of 10% over last year, we believe housing demand remains on a sustained path of recovery fueled by ongoing job creation, low unemployment, a supportive interest rate environment and a limited inventory of homes.”

On Wednesday, we got more news that supply may not be keeping up with demand. Data on housing starts showed new construction activity dropped sharply in September, though this drop was due solely to a decline in building multi-family units. Single-family homes are still being built at a rate well-below the long-term trend for the US economy.

A report out from online realtor Zillow this week said that, “Today’s home buyers are redefining so-called starter homes and buying the most expensive home they can afford.”

The affordability issue facing prospective homebuyers, and the continued lack of supply on the market, thus appears to becoming — at least for the time being — a normalized feature of the US housing market on both the buyer and seller side of the ledger.

And for now, companies like Pulte stand to gain.

Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance.

Read more from Myles here:

Goldman Sachs says corporate America’s revenue recession is over

4 newspaper headlines tell the whole story of the US labor market right now