by Calculated Risk on 6/02/2006 05:35:00 PM

There are some interesting comments in this Reuters report: Pulte Homes cuts outlook on cooling housing market

Pulte Homes Inc. [No. 2 U.S. home builder] on Friday slashed its second-quarter and full-year profit outlook ...

"There's a lot of inventory and the market's slowing," said Thomas Leritz, Argent Capital Management portfolio manager ... "Consumer sentiment is negative on housing," he added. "Every day you look at the newspaper, you read a magazine or watch TV, you see some comment about how the housing market is a bubble. People are scared."
...
Analysts expect the current quarter's results for home builders will be much weaker than last year's, when the U.S. housing boom peaked.

Blame the messenger is apparently wrong; a new survey today showed most homeowners are still optimistic about the housing market:

Despite signs of a real estate slowdown, American homeowners aren’t expecting a steep drop in the value of their properties, according to a survey released today by ING Direct...

• Nearly three-quarters of ... homeowners surveyed ... weren’t worried that there will be a downturn in the housing market ... Homeowners, on average, are anticipating a 4 percent increase in the value of their homes over the next 12 months...