Homebuilder ETFs Trade Nervously Lower Ahead of Earnings News

Meritage Homes Corporation (MTH) is expected to deliver their second-quarter earnings numbers, but investors and exchange traded funds (ETFs) aren’t exuding positivity ahead of the news.

Meritage is the 12th-largest homebuilder in the United States.

If the numbers aren’t up to par, it’s just the latest in a long list of bad news for the housing industry. Home sales and prices are falling, with the Commerce Department reporting a 0.6% drop in new single-family home sales in June, reports Alex Veiga for the Associated Press. Sales are now 33% below where they were one year ago, and prices are off 2%.

Centex Corp. is also expected to report a quarterly loss tomorrow, while Pulte Homes announced a loss earlier last week.

The homebuilders ETFs are all trading sharply lower this morning, including:

• FocusShares ISE Homebuilders Index Fund (SAW): down 15.4% year-to-date; MTH is 4.8%; Centex is 6.2%; Pulte is 5%
• iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction (ITB): down 13.4% year-to-date; MTH is 6%; Pulte is 6.2%
• SPDR Homebuilders (XHB): down 11.8% year-to-date; MTH is 4.7%