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Homebuilders climb even as housing outlook remains cloudy

In this March 18, 2020 photo, Construction continues at a housing plan in Zelienople, Pa., The housing market has stalled, but homebuilder stocks are up sharply amid signs that sales are starting to improve. Still, the outlook for a housing market recovery remains cloudy, given uncertainty over the pandemic's impact. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
In this March 18, 2020 photo, Construction continues at a housing plan in Zelienople, Pa., The housing market has stalled, but homebuilder stocks are up sharply amid signs that sales are starting to improve. Still, the outlook for a housing market recovery remains cloudy, given uncertainty over the pandemic's impact. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic) In this March 18, 2020 photo, Construction continues at a housing plan in Zelienople, Pa., The housing market has stalled, but homebuilder stocks are up sharply amid signs that sales are starting to improve. Still, the outlook for a housing market recovery remains cloudy, given uncertainty over the pandemic's impact. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

By ALEX VEIGA / AP Business Writer 5 min read

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The U.S. economy and housing market had set homebuilders up for a strong 2020.

That was before the efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic knocked the economy into a skid, dimmed consumer confidence and left a record number of Americans unemployed.

The housing market stalled in March as many would-be buyers held off on purchases. Sales of newly built and previously occupied U.S. homes fell sharply. Home construction slowed. The April data out so far shows the housing slowdown continued last month.

And yet, you wouldn’t know it by looking at homebuilder stocks. While shares in most of the builders are still in the red for the year, the majority of them have notched big gains so far this month that eclipse those of the S&P 500 by a wide margin. An S&P index of homebuilders is up 11.8% in May, versus a 1.2% gain for the broad-market S&P 500 index.

In recent weeks, as builders reported quarterly results, many have said business was going great until mid-March, when the coronavirus shutdowns began. But several also noted that business started to improve by mid-April and has continued to do so into May, said Carl Reichardt, a homebuilding analyst with BTIG.