Homebuilders: Great Gains, But A Long Way To Go

The good people at Bespoke Investment Group have a great look at homebuilder stocks today, and make a couple of intriguing observations.

The first that while homebuilders as a group are having another good year — with a 13% gain in 2013 following 2012′s more than 80% rise� — the sector is off its January highs.

Another is that for all the gains of the past year-and-a-bit — KB Home (KBH) is up 30% this year after rising 135% in 2012 — homebuilders are still way, way off their late 2005 highs:

Bespoke Investment Group

(Click for larger version.)

As the Bespoke analysts mention, the group is 263% off its lows during the financial crisis…but still has 112% to go to hit its pre-crisis highs.

Given that those levels were hit during a housing bubble, it may take a very long time to get there — but still, it’s worth knowing that even after 2012 gains such as PulteGroup‘s (PHM) 188%, Lennar‘s (LEN) 95%, MDC Holdings‘ (MDC) 106% and DR Horton‘s (DHI) 55%, there could be far more to go for housing stocks.