Builder confidence in newly built, single-family homes is on the rise again.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index posted its fourth consecutive monthly gain in August, bringing it to its highest level in nearly eight years. The index gauges builders’ perceptions of single-family home sales, sales expectations, and buyer traffic for the next six months.
The index now stands at 59 — and any number above 50 indicates that more builders view market conditions as “good” rather than “poor.”
"Builders are seeing more motivated buyers walk through their doors than they have in quite some time," said NAHB Chairman Rick Judson. "What's more, firming home prices and thinning inventories of homes for sale are contributing to an increased sense of urgency among those who are in the market."
Buyers are showing increasing demand for the limited supply of new and existing homes in markets across the country, says David Crowe, NAHB’s chief economist.
"However, this positive momentum is being slowed by the ongoing headwinds of tight credit and low supplies of finished lots and labor,” Crowe notes. Source: National Association of Home Builders