Home-building activity in the US rebounded sharply in April, the US Census Bureau reports. After two months of weakness, housing starts revived to 1.135 million units in seasonally adjusted annualized terms. The 20.2% increase in April is the strongest monthly gain since the early 1990s, pushing the number of newly built units to a new post-recession high.
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The US stock market has regained the pole position for the trailing one-year return (250 trading days) among the major asset classes via our standard set of ETF proxies. Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI) is ahead by 16% on a total-return basis for the past year through yesterday (May 18). The rebound to the top spot comes at the expense of the former leader in last month’s update—US real estate investment trusts (REITs). Vanguard REIT (VNQ) is still sitting on a solid advance of more than 13% for the past year, but the performance edge has dulled a bit relative to our April review.
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● Confidence Among U.S. Homebuilders Unexpectedly Fell in May | Bloomberg
● ZEW: German economic sentiment drops unexpectedly | MarketWatch
● Eurozone inflation confirmed flat y/y in Apr, core inflation inches higher | Reuters
● U.K. Inflation Falls Below Zero for First Time Since 1960 | Bloomberg
● Euro, bond yields tumble as ECB hints at faster buying pre-summer | Reuters
● EC chief denies Greek rescue plan as negotiations reach ‘final stages’ | Telegraph