>>I hope there is more to come for you on the upside even if in new and different ways.<<
I did try to parade housing stocks almost a year ago, but everyone wanted to talk about tech.
>>ATLANTA -- President Bush on Monday promoted his campaign to boost homeownership among minorities, saying he wanted the number of black and Latino homeowners to increase by at least 5.5 million by the end of the decade.
Bush, acknowledging he had set "a big goal," said it was achievable with the help of the private sector.
"When I lay out a goal, I mean it," Bush told several hundred people at Atlanta's St. Paul AME Church, which is located in a once-dilapidated, crime-infested neighborhood where a surge in home building has led to improvements. Bush wants to close the gap in homeownership rates between whites and minorities, particularly blacks and Latinos. The nation's overall homeownership rate is at an all-time high of nearly 68%, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said. But whereas nearly three-quarters of all white Americans own their homes, less than half of all African Americans and Latinos do.
"And that's got to change for the good of the country," Bush said. "And I believe those of us who have been given positions of responsibility must do everything we can to spotlight the [American] dream and to make sure the dream shines in all neighborhoods, all throughout our country."
In his current budget, Bush is seeking nearly $2.4 billion in tax credits for developers to help spur the rehabilitation or new construction of up to 200,000 homes for purchase by low-income households.
Bush also wants Congress to approve $200 million a year in grants that would help low-income families buy their first homes. Most grants would be less than $5,000.
Bush stressed that while government does its part, the real estate and mortgage-finance industries must join in the push to increase homeownership among minorities.
Shares of Lennar Corp., Centex Corp. and other U.S. homebuilders rose after his announcement.
The Standard & Poor's SuperCap Homebuilding index rose 9.08 points, or 2.7%, to 339.91. The index was led by Lennar, whose shares rose $2.10 to $55.50; NVR Inc., which gained $14.50 to $334; and Centex, which rose $1.48 to $53.65.
>>The top Platinum company: homebuilder Hovnanian Enterprises (nyse: HOV - news - people ), which jumped 170% since late November. Supported by low mortgage rates and a hot housing market in both California and the Northeast, Hovnanian's year-over-year revenue for the six months ended in April increased 46%, to $1.02 billion.
During the latest six-month period, Hovnanian's earnings were up 75%, to $1.40 a share. As of the end of April, Hovnanian's contract backlog of 4,501 homes was valued at $1.21 billion, a 20% increase over the same period last year.
In its previous fiscal year, Hovnanian earned $2.29 a share on revenue of $1.7 billion. Thomson Financial/IBES analysts expect Hovnanian to post earnings of $3.23 a share, on sales of $2.3 billion, for the fiscal year ending in October 2002. Shares of Hovnanian trade at just 10 times fiscal 2002 estimated earnings. << |
