The U.S. housing market continues to remain a bright spot within the economy as record low mortgage rates have lured homebuyers back into the housing market
Investors will be paying close attention to Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) earnings and weekly mortgage applications data Wednesday.
The U.S. housing market continues to remain a bright spot within the economy as record low mortgage rates have lured homebuyers back into a housing market that was at a standstill as a result of the pandemic.
The strong growth [in the housing market] is consistent with robust growth in mortgage applications, the recovery of the home buying sentiment, and the sharp rebound in the NAHB housing survey foot traffic component, Bank of America Securities wrote in a note July 2. The resilient housing market should be helped by pent-up demand and increased migration from urban centres to the suburbs owing to the crisis. However, this tailwind won’t last forever and we are starting to see signs of modest slowing as MBA purchase applications declined in each of the past two weeks.
After seeing two months of strong demand, mortgage applications to purchase a home fell for the past two weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
MBA Mortgage Applications for the week ending June 26 fell 1.8% from the prior week.
Meanwhile, retail chain Bed Bath & Beyond will release fiscal first quarter financial results after the bell. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect the company to report an adjusted earnings loss of $1.22 per share on $1.40 billion in revenue.
Foot traffic has been improving at Bed Bath & Beyond, according to Placer.ai data. The alternative data firm noted that weekly visits for the company were down 22% year-over-year the week of June 15th, compared to being down 71.9% just a few weeks prior.
And visits were trending in the right direction on Saturdays, the most important day for the company’s offline visits. On Saturday, June 20th, visits were down just 15.3% year over year while shooting 38.2% above the daily baseline for the period from January 1st, 2019 through June 22nd, 2020, easily its best day since the pandemic, Placer.ai said.
Bed Bath & Beyond stock fell 36% this year, while the broader market was down less than 1%.
