Builder Confidence Held Steady in May

Washington, DC, May 16, 2016—Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes remained unchanged in May at a level of 58 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

“Builder confidence has held steady at 58 for four straight months, which indicates that the single-family housing sector remains in positive territory,” said NAHB chairman Ed Brady, a home builder and developer from Bloomington, Illinois.  “However, builders are facing an increasing number of regulations and lot supply constraints.”

The HMI components measuring sales expectations in the next six months increased three points to 65, while the component charting current sales conditions and the index gauging buyer traffic both held steady at 63 and 44, respectively.

Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the south and midwest both registered one-point gains to 59 and 58, respectively. The west remained unchanged at 67 and the northeast fell three points to 41.