April 22, 2008 at 11:00 am by Tom Lydon
The housing slump continued through March, and home-related exchange traded funds (ETFs) reflected this morning’s latest numbers.
The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums fell by 2% in March. The median price of a home also fell 7.7% from the median one year ago, reports Martin Crutsinger for the Associated Press. It was the second-largest year-over-year price drop; the largest was February’s 8.4% drop.
Sales increased by 2.9% in February, and it had raised hopes that the housing correction had reached the bottom. But analysts don’t think a rebound will happen for months.
Homebuilder and real estate ETFs are down midday. So far this year, most of them are up, some into the double digits:
- SPDR S&P Homebuilders (XHB), up 17.1% year-to-date
- iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction (ITB), up 18.1% year-to-date
- iShares Dow Jones US Real Estate (IYR), up 4.2% year-to-date
