SPDR Homebuilder Trust (XHB) is up 44 cents to $15.22 and calls are active ahead of existing home sales data, due out Friday morning at 10:00 ET. One player bought an impressive 100K Nov 16 calls for an average of 30 cents per contract. 117,000 now traded.

A number of individual homebuilders are seeing action as well. 113K calls and 40K puts traded across the sector. Lennar (LEN) Nov 15 calls are the most actives, with 12,199 traded and 70 percent hitting ask-side. Players are also showing interest in Hovnanian (HOV) Nov and Dec 5 calls, KB Homes (KBH) Nov 17 calls, DR Horton (DHI) Nov 12.5 calls, Pulte Homes (PHM) Nov 10 calls, Toll Brothers (TOL) Nov 14 calls. While existing home sales data are due out tomorrow, some market watchers also note that today’s flurry of activity might be in anticipation of an extension of tax credits for first time homebuyers — perhaps continuing the program and extending to all new home buyers?