CEOs say they don't see bottom for housing yet

CEOs say they don't see bottom for housing yet
Marketwatch - November 14, 2006 4:21 PM ET

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TOA Trade 8.59 -0.29
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BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Home-builder stocks rallied Tuesday on lower-than-expected quarterly profit declines, falling Treasury yields and the expectation that the worst may be over for the U.S. housing market.

However, many chief executives at home-building and mortgage-lending companies who are in the trenches aren't ready to break out the champagne just yet. Many are saying they're still waiting for signs of a market bottom.

Below is a sampling of recent CEO comments on the housing market:

"We've got another year to go . . . the rest of 2006 as well as 2007 looks to be a transitional environment." -- Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) CEO, Nov. 14, Merrill Lynch Banking & Financial Services Conference

"I'd say we're in the early stages of a declining market. Most of these downturns are longer and deeper than we envision at the beginning." -- Don Tomnitz, D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI) CEO, Nov. 14, quarterly earnings call

"In most of our markets we are seeing no signs of stabilization yet, and we fear that we have yet to find a bottom. That indicates to us that this correction is going to last maybe longer than others think it may." -- Antonio Mon, Technical Olympic USA Inc (TOA) CEO, Nov. 14, quarterly earnings call

"We continue to look for signs that a recovery is imminent but can't yet say that one is in sight." -- Robert Toll, Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL) CEO, Nov. 7, quarterly earnings release

"Despite recent references to signs of a bottoming or even the beginning of a recovery, we have not yet seen any meaningful evidence to suggest that a rebound in the housing market is imminent." -- Ian McCarthy, Beazer Homes USA Inc. (BZH) CEO, Nov. 7, quarterly earnings call

"The question is how long will this downturn, referred by some as a recession, last? We have seen forecasts from anywhere from 12 months to as long as four years. I don't think anybody is anticipating that it is going to turn around anytime in the next six to nine months. So, in any case, we're looking at a minimum 12-month horizon, and certainly longer than that." -- Alan Levan, Levitt Corp. (LEV) CEO, Nov. 8, quarterly earnings call

"I don't think we've seen bottom yet, and I don't see anything that says it's going to get significantly better in '07." -- Bob Nardelli, Home Depot Inc. CEO, Nov. 14, quarterly earnings call.