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Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. The 2025 spring selling season isnt shaping up the way publicly traded homebuilders had hoped. KB Home, a giant homebuilder, told investors on March 24th that the traditionally strong spring buying window was off to a weaker-than-anticipated start. Just days earlier, Lennar, the nations second-largest builder, had offered a similar readout on its March 21 earnings call. Now, D.R. Hortonthe largest homebuilder in the U.S. and No. 120 on the Fortune 500is adding its voice to the chorus. This years spring selling season started slower than expected as potential homebuyers have been more cautious due to continued affordability constraints and declining consumer confidence, D.R. Horton CEO Paul Romanowski told investors last week. In response, the company has leaned more heavily on concessions in regions where for-sale housing inventory has risen most. So were still dealing with a lot of the markets where weve seen the much written and talked about buildup in inventory,” Romanowski said. “Weve had to add a little more concessions in the process, dependingagain, similar to our wholesale marketon the competitive environment, market by market. But we still feel pretty good about that business.” Despite macroeconomic factors like high mortgage rates and inflation concerns continuing to weigh on buyer confidence, Romanowski pointed to rising inventory levels in the housing market as the primary challenge facing D.R. Horton this spring. I would say that the macro environment hasnt done a lot to change either the pace or the concessions as much as its been the availability of inventory in the market. We are moving through that inventory in a lot of the markets and the starts pace has been down,” he said. The impact is evident in D.R. Hortons numbers: Net new orders are down 15% year-over-year. The companys South Central (which includes Texas), Southwest, and Southeast (which includes Florida) divisions posted the steepest year-over-year declines in new orders. I think you look at our concentration in Texas and through Florida, and certainly when those markets are a little softer, its going to cause us to have fewer starts in those markets in response to market conditions, Romanowski told investors on April 17th. As ResiClub has covered in great detail, the balance of power in many pockets of Florida and Texas has shifted from sellers to buyers as active housing inventory for sale there has climbed back above pre-pandemic 2019 inventory levels. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}(); Still, not all of D.R. Hortons markets are weak, particularly those places where active inventory remains well below pre-pandemic 2019 levels. We have expanded our geographic footprint and have some newer markets that are seeing good stable activity without much supply and were expecting some of those markets to grow potentially beyond our expectations. So it really is a balance, but it is market to market and community to community across our platform, Romanowski said. As D.R. Horton navigates a choppy 2025 housing landscape, its focus remains on managing inventory, adapting pricing strategies, and finding growth in less inventory saturated markets. Go here to view all of ResiClubs six main takeaways from D.R. Hortons recent earnings.
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The World Economic Forum, which runs an annual gathering of elites in Davos, Switzerland, says its board has given its unanimous support for an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by founder Klaus Schwab.The statement from the Geneva-based think tank and event organizer late on Tuesday came after a report published in the Wall Street Journal cited a whistleblower letter alleging financial and ethical misconduct by Schwab, 87, and his wife Hilde.The newspaper reported that the allegations were sent in an anonymous letter to the board last week and included claims that the Schwab family mixed their personal affairs with Forum resources.In a statement sent to the Associated Press, the Forum said its boardwhich includes former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Jordan’s Queen Rania, and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde as membersagreed to a decision by its risk and audit committee to open the probe.“While the Forum takes these allegations seriously, it emphasizes that they remain unproven, and will await the outcome of the investigation to comment further,” the statement said.The AP was not immediately able to reach Schwab or a contact person for him.The allegations emerged two days after the WEF announced Schwab had retired “with immediate effect” as chairman, and that former Nestlé Chairman and CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe was taking over as interim chairman.For decades, the Forum’s annual gathering in Davos has hosted top business executives, government leaders, academics, international organizations, cultural figures, sports legends, and celebrities to discuss government policy, deal-making, and current affairs. Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Global shares mostly rose Wednesday, with markets showing relief after President Donald Trump indicated he won’t dismiss the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve.France’s CAC 40 jumped 2.1% in early trading to 7,480.99, while Germany’s DAX rose 2.5% to 21,820.14. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.6% to 8,461.24. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 1.5% at 39,960.00. S&P 500 futures rose 2.0% to 5,421.75.In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 1.9% to finish at 34,868.63. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 surged 1.3% to 7,920.50. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.6% to 2,525.56. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 2.4% to 222,072.62, while the Shanghai Composite edged down 0.1% to 3,296.36.Trump had previously said he could fire Fed chair Jerome Powell after the Fed paused cuts to short-term interest rates. But Trump told reporters Tuesday, “I have no intention of firing him.”Investors were also cheered by comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a Tuesday speech. He said the ongoing tariffs showdown with China is unsustainable and he expects a “de-escalation” in the trade war.“Of course, markets will continue to listen out for the latest White House rhetoric on tariffs and any hints of upcoming trade deals. As such, market direction will more likely than not continue to be dictated by Trump’s latest whims regarding tariffs and trade,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.The only prediction many Wall Street strategists are willing to make is that financial markets will likely continue to veer up and down as hopes rise and fall that Trump may negotiate deals with other countries to lower his tariffs. If no such deals come quickly enough, many investors expect the economy to fall into a recession.The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed its forecast for global economic growth this year to 2.8%, down from 3.3%. A suite of better-than-expected profit reports from big U.S. companies, meanwhile, helped drive U.S. stocks higher.Also helping market sentiment was the announcement from Elon Musk that he will spend less time in Washington and more time running Tesla after his electric vehicle company reported a big drop in profits. Its results have been hurt by vandalism, widespread protests and calls for a consumer boycott amid a backlash to Musk’s oversight of cost-cutting efforts for the U.S. government.Tesla reported earnings after U.S. trading closed. Tesla’s quarterly profits fell from $1.39 billion to $409 million, far below analyst estimates.In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 80 cents to $64.47 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard added 81 cents to $68.25 a barrel.In currency trading, the U.S. dollar declined to 141.87 Japanese yen from 142.37 yen. The euro cost $1.1390, up from $1.1379. _AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed. Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
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