Housing Climbs Back

Chart, article and links from Business Insider.com.  Yesterday's Case-Shiller housing report was much stronger than the Street was looking for {estimates were for a 9% increase}.  Average home prices were up 9.3% in the 20 metropolitan areas the index tracks.  Hosing prices according to this chart are back to Autumn 2003 levels.

Put this in the "What If Things Are Getting Better?" department.  Housing was expected to be in a 10-20 year depression back in the dark days of 2008-2010.  Almost nobody expected to see this kind of rebound this soon.    This kind of rebound adds to the net worth of homeowners and puts a floor under the housing industry.  Remember we went through about a five year period where new housing starts and household formation didn't match up as nobody was building anything.  New housing and new demand are potentially huge catalysts for future economic growth.

Link:  Businessinsider.com: Rise in Housing Prices.

*Long certain ETFs related to housing in client and personal accounts.