Home Builders Remain Constructive

Housing related stocks have outpaced the broader market in 2012 as the new home market continues to recover.

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The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) is up 24% year-to-date compared to a 7% gain for the broader market.

The latest government report on new residential construction came in at 747,000 building permits for March, up 4.5% from February and up 30.1% from March 2011.  Housing starts were also strong in March, up 10.3% from March 2011.  New Residential Construction data for April 2012 will be released on Wednesday, May 16, 2012, at 8:30 A.M. EDT

Top holdings for XHB include USG Corp, Ryland Group, Mohawk Industries, Masco Corp and Toll Brothers. The expense ratio for the $1.5 billion ETF is 0.35%.

For more ways to invest, see the complete list of industry ETFs.

– ETF MarketPro Staff
May 14, 2012