NVR - Why the Latest Housing Numbers Are Worse Than They Look
There's no doubt about it: March's housing numbers were awful.
As reported by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development on April 16, new home construction starts for single-family homes -- the sort provided by D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) and NVR's (NYSE: NVR) Ryan Homes -- were down 17.5% from February 2020.
Considering how disruptive the coronavirus has been to the overall U.S. economy, with more than 90% of Americans under stay-at-home or similar orders, that may seem like an indication that things aren't so bad. But the underlying context reveals bad news for homebuilders and other stocks that benefit from a strong housing market, like Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW).