You are probably underestimating the economic momentum in US housing

America’s homebuilders see good things on the horizon.

A key gauge of homebuilder sentiment surged in September to its highest level since November of 2005.

Elsewhere, Lennar Corp., a large US homebuilder, reported a much-better-than-expected quarterly profit of $178 million Wednesday, as prices and new orders for homes rose.

And that’s a pretty marked improvement over the company—and the industry’s—performance in recent years.

Optimism seems to be seeping into the stock market. Today, Lennar and other stocks tied to the homebuilding industry—such as Home Depot—are outpacing the broader market.

And that suggests that investors expect the recent pickup in new home sales to keep rolling forward.