Investment strategist calls weak housing market an ‘ominous sign’

Piper Sandler chief investment strategist Michael Kantrowitz joined “Mornings with Maria” Monday to discuss the weakening housing market, arguing it’s an “ominous sign” of what’s in store for the U.S. economy later this year.

MICHAEL KANTROWITZ : If you look at the ITB Home Builder ETF, it has sharply underperformed over the last several weeks, few months as interest rates have backed up. Housing stocks have a bit of a problem now is that they face, nationwide home prices are extremely high and that’s been the case for about a year. And now we have a sharp increase in interest rates to add to that, which is going to make it more difficult for new homebuyers looking to buy that first home and borrow money. And so we would continue to avoid home building stocks. 

Michael Kantrowitz joins “Mornings with Maria” on April 4, 2022.

MEDIAN HOME PRICES HIT RECORD $405K IN US: REPORT

And I would say the weakness in housing data is your typical canary in the coal mine for a slowdown in the broader economy. And so the fact that housing stocks and I think housing data look out for the NAHB report in the coming days for weakness that is a canary, a typical or classic canary in the coal mine. And so the weaker housing gets down the road. That’s kind of a foreshadowing of what the rest of the economy is going to look like later this year. So it’s a bit of an ominous sign seeing housing weaken. 

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