Growing optimism over the US housing market may be premature, a leading retailer warned on Tuesday.
Frank Blake, chief executive of Home Depot, said housing market signals were still mixed.
"We are concerned about the accelerating rates of foreclosures, particularly in the western part of the country," he said, noting that one out of every 54 homes in California was in foreclosure.
Mr Blake said that a slowing foreclosure rate in California during the fourth quarter had led to an improvement in regional store sales but the trend had then reversed as foreclosure rates rose again in the first quarter.
The shift "provides a cautionary note on signalling a recovery prematurely", he said. "Before we see real improvement we believe we need to see sustainable deceleration in foreclosures."
There were 342,038 foreclosure filings in April, according to data from RealtyTrac, an increase of 1 per cent from the previous month and up 32 per cent from last year.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Home Depot CEO: housing market optimism is premature
From the Financial Times:
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This slow down to me is just the entering into the spring season when the market always peaks up. Not sure how they fully calculate the decline, but that's my view.
ReplyDelete"James said...
ReplyDeleteThere were 342,038 foreclosure filings in April, according to data from RealtyTrac, an increase of 1 per cent from the previous month and up 32 per cent from last year."
You forgot the last part "except for the DC area where they fell 12%"
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Area-foreclosures-drop-in-April-bucking-national-trend-44933007.html
Maybe things would be worse without the bailout programs and lender moratoriums on foreclosures, but the fact that things keep heading down despite the interventions does not speak well from the road ahead. And like Scott said, this is spring -- peak selling season.
ReplyDeleteThis is a long way from over. . .
Who are you going to believe, a decorated scholar like Ben Bernanke that has his hand on the pulse of the grreen shoots of the economy, or some dumb CEO of a home improvement mega store that can see everyday what is actually going on? Oh, wait......
ReplyDeleteLinked to this story tonight, I love it! Nice catch.
ReplyDeleteI bought in late 06' in California. Would I use my Home Depot CC, hell no! I'm thinking about walking away!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWheres Lance and all his wisdom and road-to-richs advice? It's been a long time since I've been on this blog and just curious.
ReplyDelete"Wheres Lance and all his wisdom and road-to-richs advice? It's been a long time since I've been on this blog and just curious."
ReplyDeleteProlly foreclosed on and living in a homeless shelter. They don't have a net connection there.