Hovnanian Enterprises News

After declining for three months, a gauge of confidence among home builders rose in May, thanks to rosier view on sales, according to a report released Wednesday.

The U.S. housing market has seen a remarkable recovery in the last 12 months, with average selling prices rising almost 10% year over year, housing permits increasing, and inventory at close to a decade-long minimum.

The housing market has been steadily improving, lifting the stocks of homebuilders like Beazer Homes , Hovnanian , and PulteGroup to heights not seen since the mortgage crisis.

In late November, 2012, I made a list of my homebuilder picks for 2013 . I combined valuation, price changes, and short interest to build the list.

The U.S. housing market is continuing to see a robust recovery. Data released earlier this week showed that home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose 9.3% in the month of February.

In trading on Thursday, the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index Fund is outperforming other ETFs, up about 2.5% on the day.

In fact, since February of this year, the builder reports that the community has sold 16 homes before the spring selling season even started.

The short interest moves in most residential construction stocks were mixed during the first two weeks of April, as some the rebound in housing sputtered along.

The Orchards at Monroe is a distinctive new community that will feature 132 single-family homes conveniently set on the border of Monroe and Cranbury in Middlesex County.

Here at The Motley Fool, I've long cautioned investors to keep a close eye on inventory levels.

In trading on Tuesday, general contractors & builders shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 4.2%. Leading the group were shares of Toll Brothers , up about 8.7% and shares of Hovnanian Enterprises up about 6.4% on the day.

In trading on Tuesday, the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index Fund ETF is outperforming other ETFs, up about 3.4% on the day.