Skyrocketing housing
stocks prompt worries
of slowdown

NEW YORK » Home builders have been among the best performing stocks over the last several years as consumers took advantage of historically low mortgage rates. But with monthly data suggesting a slowdown in sales of new homes and economists predicting an eventual rise in rates, it may be time to eye these stocks more critically.

The Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index surged an astronomical 588 percent over the last five years, making it the market's top performing industry. It's been a leader over the last three months as well, rising 28.4 percent. And several housing stocks catapulted to new all-time highs yesterday after bond yields sagged on a government report showing sluggish job growth in January.

But as hot as the housing market seems, its long run higher and signs that slower growth may lie ahead have put some professional investors on their guard. For individual investors who own these stocks, it may be time to think about collecting profits.

"We've begun to get cautious on them. We've told people to trim. Not to sell them outright, but to consider trimming, winnowing down, and take some money off the table," said David Darst, chief investment strategist with Morgan Stanley's individual investor group. "You might miss some, but you've had this big run, and the price potential is somewhat limited from here."

Darst points to the "parabolic price increases" of home builders -- on a chart, the line tracking their performance is practically vertical. For some bears, it's an uneasy reminder of the run-up tech stocks enjoyed before their 2000 slide. The skyrocketing pace has raised worries that housing stocks have surged beyond their underlying fundamentals.

"Some people think it could go further, but that reminds me of the talk in '97, '98, and '99," Darst said. "People who got out too early were kicking themselves, but a few years later, they were feeling better than the people who overstayed the party."

On top of that, slower-than-expected new home sales in December, following a steep drop in November, suggest the housing market may finally be starting to cool. And while average rates on 30-year fixed mortgages just fell for a fifth straight week to 5.63 percent, most economists believe they will rise eventually, as the Federal Reserve presses ahead with a policy of gradually tightening short-term rates.

Adopting a cautious tack might be a challenge as industry leaders like D.R. Horton Inc., Pulte Corp., Centex Corp., Lennar Corp. and Toll Brothers Inc. strike new highs. And it's worth noting that Wall Street has been wrong about this before; many analysts warned that higher rates would cause declines in housing stocks and real estate investment trusts last year. But the market defied their predictions, and long term rates stayed low even as the Fed tightened short-term rates. A record 1.18 million new homes were sold in 2004 -- an 8.9 percent rise -- and the median price went up 12.3 percent to $218,900.