The Mouse Is in the House

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You can't blame KB Home (NYSE: KBH) for taking to pixie dust. The struggling homebuilder is teaming up with Disney (NYSE: DIS) to offer Disney Home decor packages that will have new homes decked out with Disney-themed stylistic touches.

This isn't the first time that KB Home has leaned on a marquee brand to bolster its developments. It hooked up with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) two years ago in offering Martha Stewart homes.

Aligning itself with Disney makes sense. Sixty percent of its homes are sold to families with children. Disney is at the head of the class in family entertainment. It's also blessed with characters that have stood the test of time.

That's important. Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Nickelodeon always seems to have a hot hand, but programming trends can be fickle. Having a SpongeBob SquarePants bathroom may sound like a great idea now, but will it be as alluring in five years? If you're stumped, think back to that Rugrats-themed playroom that seemed like such a stellar idea five years ago.

This is a great move for KB Home. An oversupply of homes with "For Sale" signs planted on their front lawns is forcing homebuilders to scale back on new developments. Standing out is important, and this is the kind of move that would tip the scales in KB's favor with Disneyphiles everywhere.

That said, here are some of the Disney-themed accessory packages that I would love to see in addressing the housing industry's slumping ways.

  • The Pirates of the Subprime -- Ahoy there, mateys. Exotic mortgages find overextended borrowers walking the planks. Next stop, Davy Jones' locker? As the industry waits for a Will Turner-round, singing its Elizabeth Swann song, maybe pillaging and plundering isn't the best of themes. However, as long as we can blame the scurvy scum of corruptible mortgage originators for bending the rules to get dicey loans approved, there's no harm in letting a little Captain Jack Sparrow-themed liquor cabinet stand out in the family room.
  • It's a Small Walk-In After All -- Closet too small? Make it even smaller by loading it up with audio-animatronic dolls that sing the same annoying song over and over. The dolls are dressed up in various international outfits, letting us know that the joke's on us and our slumping dollar. That would make stateside realty cheap to foreign investors, but not unless they hedge their bets of a further weakening dollar first.
  • High School Seussical -- Will things ever get better for the industry? Lennar (NYSE: LEN) posted its worst quarter in its 53-year history yesterday morning. Let's simplify the market's housing appetite by replacing the six peppy High School Musical kids with a little non-Disney green hams and eggery for a hallway cuckoo clock: I do not like these housing stocks. I do not like the way they drop. I do wish I could turn back clock. I do not like these housing stocks.

Don't like these packages? Upset that I skipped past the obvious Winnie-the-Pooh and Haunted Mansion themes? Add to the list in the Disney discussion board. 

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11/24/2009 10:49 AM
DIS $30.45 Down -0.03 -0.10%
The Walt Disney Co… CAPS Rating: ****
KBH $13.87 Down -0.14 -1.00%
KB Home CAPS Rating: *
LEN $13.31 Down -0.34 -2.49%
Lennar Corp CAPS Rating: *
MSO $4.85 Down -0.03 -0.61%
Martha Stewart Liv… CAPS Rating: *
VIA $32.05 Up +0.23 +0.72%
Viacom, Inc. CAPS Rating: ***

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