: Homebuilder stocks take a broad beating as rising long-term interest rates raises affordability concerns

Shares of home builders took a broad beating Thursday, amid growing concerns over housing affordability as interest rates have been surging. The iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF ITB dropped 2.6% in morning toward the lowest close since June 5, with 44 of 46 of its equity components losing ground. Shares of KB Home KBH sank 3.3%, also toward a 3 1/2-month low, even after the homebuilder reported fiscal third-quarter earnings that beat expectations and raised its full-year outlook. Among KB Home’s more active peers, shares of D.R. Horton Inc. DHI shed 3.6%, of Builders FirstSource Inc. BLDR slid 4.6%, of PulteGroup Inc. PHM declined 3.9%, of Toll Brothers Inc. TOL tanked 3.2% and of Lennar Corp. LEN lost 3.2%. The sector’s selloff comes amid disappointing home sales data as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note BX:TMUBMUSD10Y, which influences mortgage rates, jumped 0.133 percentage points to 4.482%, the highest rate seen in 16 years, after the Federal Reserve indicated it was not necessarily done raising interest rates.

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