The construction industry is not doing well, but does that mean the market is down?
Alright, it’s 10am CST. I have already read five conflicting headlines with respect to the housing market today:
1. “Housing Starts Hurt by Steep Drop in Apartment Building” – NYTimes
2. “Sales Drop 10%, But Home Depot Tops Forecasts” – NYTimes
3. “Builder Sentiment High on Affordability” – HousingWire.com
4. “Housing Starts Declined in April” – Wall Street Journal
5. “Signs of Optimism — Home Prices Rise” – Union-Tribune
So which is it?
These headlines, all from reputed publications, perhaps indicate the extent to which the market is saturated with housing news, as well as the vast amount of confusion in regards to which the direction the housing market is actually heading in. While it would certainly be easy to write about any one of these pieces, doing so would only steer your opinion in whatever direction the story I discussed took.
The data can be used to defend any viewpoint: Home Depot is doing well, Lowes is doing poorly. Housing starts for apartment buildings are on the decline. Housing starts for single family homes are stable. Housing prices are rising in some areas. The market still has not rebounded in others. The question is, which indicator do you deem to be the most important?
Or should we simply be acknowledging that it is too early to predict the rise or fall of the housing market with any certainty?