I have read numerous posts from other real estate professionals in other cities talking about seeing signs of the market bottoming, of the market stabilizing, of the market picking up... feeling the buzz and many other positive signs. I agree. I see it here in Philadelphia as my wife and I are very busy.
At the same time, being an ex-stockbroker and an avid market watcher and investor, I see homebuilding stocks at or close to historical lows - companies such as Hovanian, Lennar, Toll Brothers, Beazer homes...etc. I am going out on a limb here saying that Hovanian (HOV) at less than $5.00 a share is a steal. Being that we are on the forefront of the industry, we have an edge as far as potential investments that can be made. I noticed yesterday that the CEO of Hovanian also purchased over 200,000 shares in the low 5s. So an insider purchase is the next item of someone who is even closer to the market and also a vote of confidence. Some of these homebuilders specialize in specific regions in the country. I know Toll and Beazer do most of their business on the east coast. As industry professionals, what are your thoughts on these types of opportunities ? Instead of buying another rental property (we already own 10) another way to diversify may be to own homebuilder stocks.
Also another interesting story is MOVE.com who is the parent company of realtor.com. I pay realtor.com close to $4,000 a year to have our listings showcased. It seems that realtor.com is garnering a lot of traffice. With MOVE trading around $2.10 a share, that seems like a great value too when it was trading close to 8.00 within the last year.
I would be interested in the community's thoughts and ideas when it comes to these types of investment ideas to take advantage of being on the pulse of the market and any other ideas as well !
Chris and Stephanie Somers RE/MAX Affiliates www.thesomersteam.com Philadelphia, PA
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