Lennar Corp. faces widening credit default swap spreads

Homebuilder Lennar Corp. (LEN) is experiencing widening credit default swap spreads and rising CDS liquidity as the housing market continues to stumble along without a clear bottom in sight, Fitch Solutions said Tuesday. Larger credit default swap spreads are generally a sign that there are greater fears of a possibility of CDS default. Miami-based Lennar builds single-family homes and offers title and mortgage services. Fitch Solutions said credit default swap spreads on Lennar, which reports its second-quarter earnings later this week, widened 24% over the past three months. The ratings agency also said the company’s CDS is underperforming the 7% widening observed for the larger consumer goods industry. “Concerns over the ailing housing market continue to weigh on market sentiment for Lennar,” said Diana Allmendinger, author of the report. One of the main factors weighing on the homebuilder and the entire housing sector is the lack of balance between housing supply and demand. The housing market took another dose of bad news Tuesday when year-over-year existing-home sales plummeted more than 15%, according to the National Association of Realtors, but California, a trouble spot with high rates of foreclosure, reported Tuesday that pending sales in May increased 12% from one year ago, the first such gain in 18 months, Write to: Kerri Panchuk.