Skip navigation
Watchlist Sponsored By :


Current DateTime: 09:12:26 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 24355697
  • Runway Angels

      The superbowl of fashion shows, models walk down the runway at the 2009 Victoria's Secret Show.

  • Smartphone Guide

      Here's a need-to-know guide to nine devices, based on features, price, network and platform.

  • Wines for the Holidays

      Not quite sure what wine to pair with Turkey or Creme Brulee? Our experts do.

FEATURED QUIZZES


Current DateTime: 09:12:26 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 33793611
  • How Well Do You Know Your Bird?

      Let's talk turkey. Test your turkey knowledge and perhaps pick up a bit of trivia to trot out at your holiday meal.

  • A Healthier & Wealthier You

      Take the following quiz and find out how much you know about the impact of obesity on the health of the U.S. economy.

  • The Billionaire BFF's

      Philanthropists. Bridge partners. Hockey players. Which responses are based on facts from Buffett's and Gates' real lives?


Current DateTime: 09:12:26 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 24890560
  • Winterizing Your Portfolio

      If 2009 was the winter of our discontent, will 2010 be a winter wonderland for investors? A lot depends on the recovery—or lack thereof.

  • Investor's Guide to Real Estate

      Some even say the long-awaited recovery is here. Regardless, buyers and sellers alike can profit from our guide.

  • Alternative Investing

      Stocks and bonds? Sure. But it's a big world out there for investors.

powered by digg
Housing: Half Empty Or Half Full
By: By CNBC.com Staff | 09 Apr 2007 | 02:15 PM ET
Text Size

Homebuilders are warning about earnings, home sales and prices are falling and defaults and foreclosures are soaring.

But Jim Gillespie, President & CEO of Coldwell Banker,  remains optimistic. 

“I would say that the last ten years were a little unusual in that we had ten great years in a row," Gillespie told CNBC. "Usually, you go five, six or seven years and then cycle down for a year or two before picking up again. Real estate has been a solid investment – a consistent winner in terms of appreciation.”  Adds Gillespie: "I think the long-term outlook for real estate is solid.”

Yes, the long term.

In the meantime, listen to Lennar CEO Stuart Miller on why the company lowered guidance for full-year 2007.

"While some markets are performing better than others, the typically stronger spring selling season has not yet materialized," Miller said in a statement. "These soft market conditions have been exacerbated by the well-publicized problems in the subprime lending market."

Lennar's first-quarter profit tumbled 73%. Net income for the quarter ended Feb. 28 fell to $68.6 million, or 43 cents a share, from $258.1 million, or $1.58 a share, in the year-ago period. The results, however, were in line with expectations of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Miller and Gillespie's comments Tuesday followed back-to-back downbeat reports. On Monday, the government said new home sales fell to a near seven-year low in February. (Complete data)

On Tuesday,  data showed U.S. single-family home prices plunged in January, posting their first year-over-year drop in more than a decade, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. (Full report)

Robert Shiller, a professor of economics at the Yale School of Management's Int'l Center says thouigh there are signs the market is bottoming out, the market is more likely to continue down for awhile.

Doom and gloom are not unusual in the cyclical housing market -- they're just more powerful after a decade of red-hot prices.

So Gillespie may have been thinking big picture in brushing aside suggestions that the current real estate market is the worst ever, recalling that interest rates hit 21% 25 years ago.

Home Builders
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

“You’ve got demographics that are overwhelming,” he says. “There are 78 million baby boomers, their kids and minority home ownership has grown to about 50% from 40% in the last ten years. Interest rates are near historic lows, unemployment is under 5% and, overall, the economy is good."

Gillespie says he expects sales this year to rank as the third, fourth or fifth best in history. Coldwell Banker is part of Realogy, [H  Loading...      ()   ] whose holdings also include Century 21 Real Estate.

© 2009 CNBC, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Tools:
Print EmailAdd This share icon
  • digg share

CNBC HIGHLIGHTS

  • Here's how key provisions of the health care reform bill would impact your insurance and how you'll pay for it.
  • Playboy Logo
  • Playboy will outsource its publishing operations in a bid to become profitable again.
  • Remember when auto shows were major events where new models could generate buzz?
  • After nine years the NBA’s minor league equivalent is finally coming into its own.
  • Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
  • For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
ADD COMMENTS
Remaining characters


Current DateTime: 05:21:40 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 08:51:31 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 02:05:46 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779199

Current DateTime: 08:49:59 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779198
  Data is a real-time snapshot  *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis

© 2009 CNBC, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
A Division of NBC Universal
Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters