Despite some cracks in the housing recovery and a pullback in home construction-related exchange traded funds, the housing market still has momentum going for it.
“There is a certain, substantial amount of momentum in the housing market—much more so than the stock market,” Robert Shiller, a Nobel prize winner and Yale University professor of economics, said in a CNBC article.
Shiller is the co-founder of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which represent certain metropolitan areas and is used as an underlying pricing mechanism in CME housing futures and options.
Looking ahead, “the futures market at the CME is predicting something like 25 percent higher home prices in 2018,” Shiller added. “That seems like a possibility.”
However, the economist warned that “there are signs of softening” in building permits and housing starts. Housing starts data for March will be reported Wednesday, April 16.
Homebuilder ETFs have been weakening this year. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSEArca: XHB) is down 6.15 and iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (NYSEArca: ITB) is 4.9% lower year-to-date.