Builder Confidence Improves in May Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes improved three points to a read of 44 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for May. This gain, from a downwardly revised 41 in April, reflected improvement in all three index components – current sales conditions, sales expectations, and traffic of prospective buyers. All three HMI components posted gains in May. The index gauging current sales conditions increased four points to 48, while the index gauging expectations for future sales edged up a single point to 53 – its highest level since February of 2007. The index gauging traffic of prospective buyers gained three points to 33. Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, no movement was recorded in the Northeast, Midwest or South, which held unchanged at 37, 45, and 42, respectively. Only the West, which includes California, recorded a decline, of six points to 49 in May.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 18:25:54 +0000