These ETFs tap strong U.S. housing

Article Excerpt

The U.S. housing market has largely recovered from the 2008/2009 housing crisis. Still, rising interest rates may eventually slow the speed of future growth. In the near term, however, higher employment levels, rising wages and limited housing supply should continue to spur demand for new homes. Here we look at two ETFs that aim to benefit from increasing demand for U.S. housing (see the supplement on page 39 for more information). ISHARES U.S. HOME CONSTRUCTION ETF $40 (New York symbol ITB; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $1.8 billion) invests in firms that are involved in the U.S. homebuilding and improvement industry. • Falling U.S. unemployment and rising consumer confidence continue to spur housing demand • U.S. building permits rose 7.4% in January 2018 over January 2017 • These two U.S. homebuilding ETFs come with moderate MERs and p/e ratios The fund holds a portfolio of 47 companies. The top 10 make up a high 61% of its total assets, and the top 5,…