A plunge in homebuyer traffic for new homes drove down the level of confidence among the nation’s home builders for the second month in a row.
During February, the
Housing Market Index came in at 65. An index of more than 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.
But despite the favorable reading, the index was
down for the second consecutive month from 67 in January though it was well above 58 in February 2016.
The National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo
jointly released the index on Wednesday.
Despite two consecutive months of declines, NAHB Chairman Granger MacDonald noted in the report that the index is just “settling back into a normal range.” But Granger also stated that “regulatory burdens remain a major challenge to our industry.”
By region, the three-month average in the Northeast was 50, declining from January by two points — the most deterioration of any region. A single-point dip in the South left the index there at 67.
In the West, the index was unchanged from a month earlier at 79.
The only gain was in the Midwest: a point to 65.
The national index is comprised of three components. One component, current buyer traffic,
sank five points to 46.
A three-point drop left the index charting sales expectations in the next six months at 73.
Just a one-point drop was recorded for the
component gauging current sales conditions, which came in at 71.
