by Wolf Richter, Wolf Street:

What homebuilder PulteGroup said about mortgage-rate buydowns. Homebuilders have figured out this market, homeowners have not.

To sell new houses in this 8%-mortgage environment, homebuilders – whose stocks have gotten battered since August – have resorted to mortgage-rate buydowns through their own mortgage companies. Earnings calls are now all about those buydowns and their costs, including PulteGroup’s earnings call yesterday which is currently buying down 30-year 8% fixed-rate mortgages permanently to 5.75%.