U.S. housing's deep hole

It is hard to believe the U.S. housing market peaked nearly five years ago.

Then again, it shouldn’t be so difficult to fathom because many economists have said it takes years to unwind and recover from an overleveraged mess like this.

On Tuesday, we heard U.S. homebuilder sentiment is mired at a paltry 16. Anything over 50 indicates optimism, but the reading has not seen that level since April, 2006.

Today, we got word U.S. housing starts in December fell 4.3% to an annualized rate of 529,000. As late as 2007, that rate was 2 million, and, since 1959, it never fell below 1 million starts – until the housing crash.

Bad weather had something to do with the weak report, but the usual culprits are the most responsible – unemployment at 9.4% and lackluster consumer and builder confidence. Cheap foreclosed homes also make buying a new house a less desirable option for many potential buyers.

The last word goes to Steven Ricchiuto, the Chief Economist at Mizuho Securities. ‘’Housing is basically at the bottom of a very deep hole and there is no real sign of the industry being able to climb out in 2011.’’

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