Builders (PHM) (DHI) (TOL) (MDC) (RYL) Continue to Struggle

Pulte Group Inc (NYSE:PHM), D.R. Horton Inc (NYSE:DHI), Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE:TOL), M.D.C. Holdings Inc. (NYSE:MDC) and The Ryland Group Inc (NYSE:RYL) were under pressure Tuesday as new building permits in the U.S. missed estimates by about 40,000, coming in at $550,000.

Housing starts were also a disaster, reaching 520,000, 60,000 below the projected 580,000.

A healthy home construction market is considered to be about 1.2 million homes per year. So far the rate for 2011 is an anemic 523,000 homes per year pace.

In April, new home construction dropped 10.6 percent from March, down 10.6 percent.

PulteGroup closed at $7.61 Tuesday, level with Monday's close. D.R. Horton closed at $11.46, dropping $0.21, or 1.80 percent.