By Sagarika Jaisinghani | Reuters
An odd thing happened after data released Tuesday showed that the homebuilder confidence index rose to its highest level in almost eight years – housing stocks barely moved on the news.
Wary of rising mortgage rates, investors are choosing to stay on the sidelines rather than celebrate indications of a firming economic recovery.
Homebuilder confidence rose in July to its strongest level in 7-1/2-years as tightening supply and solid demand fueled the sector’s recovery, data from the National Association of Home Builders released on Tuesday showed.
The index almost exclusively covers private builders but shares of publicly listed builders generally tend to move.
Shares of the largest U.S. homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc (DHI.N), No. 3 Lennar Corp (LEN) and Toll Brothers Inc (TOL), the market leader in luxury homes, were all flat in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of No. 2 builder PulteGroup Inc (PHM) fell 1 percent.
The wider S&P 500 (.SPX) index was down marginally on Tuesday.
