Homebuilder Shares Jump
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The shares of American homebuilders jumped as much as 4.1%, led by Meritage Homes Corporation and Pulte Homes, after a government report showed March new-home sales increased by the most in almost 12 years.
The Standard & Poor’s index of 16 homebuilders rose 21.66 points to 815.58 as of 11:50 a.m. in New York trading after earlier in the day climbing to as high as 826.19. Meritage, which on Tuesday reported first-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates, surged 7.3% to $61.40. Pulte, the largest American residential builder, jumped 3.9% to $39.39.
“The rumors of the death of homebuilding were at least premature,” said Ronald Muhlenkamp, 62, president of Muhlenkamp & Company, with $3.3 billion under management, about 12% of that in homebuilders. “We expect starts to flatten this year, but the big guys are going to continue to gain market share.”
