Steel Products

Builder Confidence at Highest Level in 8 Years

August 16, 2013

Builders are feeling more confident about the housing market according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The August Index shows an increase of three points to 59, bringing the index to its highest level in almost eight years.

Of the three components used in the monthly survey to compile the index, current sales conditions rose three points to 62 in August, sales expectations for the next six months rose one point to 68, and traffic of prospective buyers was unchanged at 45.

In a three month moving average for the Housing Market Index, the Midwest and West gained six points each, 60 and 57, respectively. The Northeast was unchanged at 39 and the South moved up four points to 54.

The NAHB reports buyers are motivated by firming home prices and limited inventory of homes for sale. The momentum of buying, however, is being slowed somewhat by “tight credit and low supplies of finished lots and labor,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.