Builder Confidence Holds Steady for July

Jul 17, 2018

Builder confidence in newly-built single-family homes remained unchanged at a 68 reading in July on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

The HMI index measuring current sales conditions remained unchanged at 74 while the component gauging expectations in the next six months dropped two points to 73 and the metric focused on buyer traffic rose two points to 52. Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast rose one point to 57, the Midwest remained unchanged at 65 and the West and South each fell one point to 75 and 70, respectively.

“Builders are encouraged by growing housing demand, but they continue to be burdened by rising construction material costs,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “Builders need to manage these cost increases as they strive to provide competitively priced homes, especially as more first-time home buyers enter the housing market.”

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Phil Hall

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Jul 17, 2018

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