Homebuilder stocks crumble as mortgage rates surge and as home buyers retreat

Shares of homebuilders took a broad beating Thursday, as mortgage rates kept rising to a 23-year high, and prompting more home buyers to back off. The iShares Home Construction ETF
ITB,
-4.58%
dropped 5.2% toward a four-month low in afternoon trading, the biggest one-day drop in 13 months, with all 46 equity components losing ground. Among the more-active homebuilders, shares of D.R. Horton Inc.
DHI,
-5.75%
sank 6.3% toward a six-month low, of Lennar Corp.
LEN,
-5.02%
shed 5.7%, of Toll Brothers Inc.
TOL,
-5.82%
slumped 6.7% and PulteGroup Inc.
PHM,
-4.86%
slid 5.9%. Home improvement retail giant Home Depot Inc.’s stock
HD,
-1.65%
lost 2.4%, to put it on track for the lowest close since June 1. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.57% as of Oct. 12, the highest rate since December 2000. And real estate services company Redfin Corp.
RDFN,
-5.43%
said while new home listings for the four weeks ended Oct. 8 fell 3.9% from a year ago, the smallest decline in 15 months, buyers are “retreating” as mortgage-purchase applications were near their lowest levels in nearly 30 years. Redfin’s stock was down 6.1% at a nine-month low. The home construction ETF has tumbled 14.1% over the past three months, while the S&P 500
SPX,
-0.62%
has eased 3.3%.