Colorado housing industry veteran leverages Housing Tides to anticipate market trends.
Newest Housing Tides™ Team Member
This month I have joined the Housing Tides™ research team. I bring a four-decade career in closely watching the vast number of variables that impact the housing market. My expertise in this area led me to a record-breaking career with U.S. Home Corporation that helped prompt its acquisition by Lennar, the nation’s largest homebuilder. During my 20-year career as the region president for Lennar’s four divisions in Colorado, I found a way to navigate the market and build over 20,000 homes with a market share second to only one other builder. How was I able to achieve these incredible results? I developed an uncanny ability to “look around corners” and place the right bets because I focused on market research.
My addition to the team gives Housing Tides the guidance of a prolific home builder with a long look back on the housing cycles. I will be writing a monthly commentary on the research that we are conducting and provide my views on how this this information shows the impacts on changes in market conditions. I urge you to peer around the corners with me and make the decisions that will enhance your business performance.
To get a clear and accurate assessment of market conditions that impact the housing industry research is absolutely critical to the success of any firm or business that depends on homes being built. Of course, this would include homebuilders, suppliers, all the trades, real estate brokers, lenders, land developers and other professionals such as architects, engineers, attorneys, land planners and investment bankers. Many services depend on housing such as interior furnishings, home automation, landscaping and energy conservation inspection.
Early in my career I needed to gather the housing trends sentiments from across the country. I subscribed to the newspapers in the top ten U.S. housing markets. While I gained valuable insights to the trends that gave me a competitive edge, it was a chore to keep up on reading all the press. Housing Tides’ Media Analysis with IBM Watson® solves this time-consuming issue by providing a sentiment analysis of housing industry news searchable by keyword, place mention and source. “Look around corners” by taking advantage of this valuable tool providing reconnaissance from around the U.S.
Discover the Bigger Picture
Anecdotal information about your housing market is always fascinating and of course important. However, relying on the stories by themselves can lead to misconceptions about the future of the market. This reliance can may be the basis for making ill-informed judgments on your business decisions.
Providing a summary of critical data is what we do at Housing Tides. We monitor dozens of data points for over 50 markets and summarize it all into the Housing Tides Index™.
We provide the details of the variables that comprise the Index into easily read charts to give the reader something to understand at-a-glance with the ability to drill deeper with the simple click of the mouse. We answer the questions about the health of your market or where the healthy markets are located.
The most recent news of the coronavirus spread from Wuhan, China to other parts of the world reminds me that exogenous events can influence the economy and the housing market. What can a housing industry decision-maker do to understand the effects of such Black Swan anomalies? Watching the components of the Housing Tides Index can give the decision-maker an early warning of what is impacting the marketplace. An astute observer knows that trends in California may soon impact the Northwest, Mountain West and Texas.
Challenge Your Assumptions with Us
Housing Tides monitors the home price trends in major markets. The Case-Shiller Report only covers 20 metropolitan areas. Housing Tides monitors 50. According to the Wall Street Journal west coast cities saw the weakest price growth in November. Our data provides a different result. See for yourself the actual data in our charts and graphs. This bears watching.
Of major concern to me and other participants in the housing industry is the inadequate supply of housing that has developed since the Global Financial Crisis. A recent article in The Economist1claimed that in places such as the wealthy cities in the United States housing has become too expensive and that is damaging the economy and poisoning politics. Our most productive areas (such as my home in the Front Range of Colorado) are not building enough new homes to satisfy demand. Local and state governments have made it too difficult to build the accommodations to serve their populations. You can monitor these effects across the major markets in the U.S. by studying Housing Tides. I will make a point of providing commentary on this headwind in future blogs.
Don’t fool yourself with misconceptions. We help you confirm or deny your preconceived notions. We challenge your assumptions. Successful decisions depend on developing a superior view of reality. You can accomplish this by subscribing to and studying Housing Tides.
Look for my perspectives each month in my blog in Housing Tides. From time to time, I will also comment on our social media platforms on new issues that face our industry and the pesky ones that don’t seem to ever go away.
Ready to explore the depth of data in Housing Tides?
Sign-up for a Housing Tides account to access the interface and dive into the data!
For a limited time only, we're offering complimentary access to Housing Tides. Don't miss out!
About Jeff Whiton
Jeff formerly headed operations for Lennar and KB Home in Colorado building nearly two per cent of the state’s total single-family housing stock. He was honored as Colorado’s Home Builder of the Year in 2001. Whiton also served as the CEO of the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver for eight years reviving the association from near bankruptcy after the Great Recession.
