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%
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.