Jan. 9 at 6:35 PM
PickAlpha Mid-Day:
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick met with major homebuilders to discuss housing affordability and possible incentives to spur more construction (reported). The talks follow Trump’s moves to ban institutions from buying single-family homes and to direct Fannie/Freddie to buy
$200B in mortgage bonds; homebuilders popped with Toll +7.5% and Lennar +7.4% (reported).
Tickers:
$TOL $LEN $ITB
Our view is this is policy-driven demand support + supply signaling — the variable is whether incentives become real, funded, and fast enough to move starts (not just headlines). If the administration pairs cheaper mortgage spreads with builder-friendly carrots (permits, tax credits, financing), builders can rerate on volume/land turns. If it’s mostly messaging into midterms, the move fades and housing stays gated by rates + inventory.
