The Housing Economy with Fexingo: Home Prices, Mortgage Rates, and Real Estate Markets

Consumer sentiment hit a record low in May 2026, yet homebuilder stocks like D.R. Horton, Lennar, and PulteGroup are up 4-6% in the last five days. Lucas and Luna unpack the disconnect. They look at the Case-Shiller index still climbing to 332.1, while mortgage rates just ticked up to 6.51%. The twist: builders are pivoting to smaller, more affordable homes and using rate buydowns to keep buyers i...

Home prices are falling slowly, but the cost of the dirt under those homes is the real story. Lucas and Luna examine how land prices have surged over the past five years, squeezing builders and forcing them to pivot to smaller lots, townhouses, and attached homes. They look at data from the latest housing starts report showing permits rising even as single-family starts decline, and discuss why th...

Home prices are still elevated, mortgage rates just ticked up to 6.51%, and consumer sentiment hit a fresh record low this month. So why are homebuilder stocks like Lennar up over 6% in the past week? Lucas and Luna dig into a specific shift in the new-home market: builders are shrinking lot sizes and floor plans to hit a lower price point — and it's working. They walk through the data on housing...

Lucas and Luna dig into a surprising trend in May 2026: apartment rents are dropping in cities like Austin, Phoenix, and Atlanta. They explore the construction boom that added hundreds of thousands of new units, the demographic shifts pulling renters away, and what this means for both prospective tenants and real estate investors. With the 30-year mortgage rate climbing back to 6.51 percent and me...

Homebuilder stocks just had their best week in months. The XHB, a key homebuilder ETF, is up over 3 percent in five days. Individual builders like Lennar and Toll Brothers are up even more. This episode digs into why: the data shows building permits rose sharply in April even as housing starts fell, suggesting builders are confident about future demand. Meanwhile, mortgage rates ticked up to 6.51...

In this episode of The Housing Economy, Lucas and Luna dig into a puzzle that's confounding economists and homebuyers alike: why are home prices still climbing even though mortgage rates are near 6.4 percent and existing home sales have slumped? They look at the Case-Shiller index ticking up to 332.1, the sharp drop in building permits, and the role of rate lock-in keeping inventory tight. The con...

Homebuilder stocks are getting crushed in May 2026, with the XHB down nearly 4 percent in a single week. Lucas and Luna look at the numbers behind the selloff: DHI, LEN, PHM, KBH, and TOL all dropping on a cocktail of rising mortgage rates, stubborn inflation, and a new Fed chair who markets don't quite trust yet. They trace the chain from Kevin Warsh's swearing-in this Friday to the bond vigilant...