Homebuilder Confidence Rises for the Third Consecutive Month

Homebuilder confidence in the South rose for the third consecutive month, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

• M-O-M: Builder confidence in the South rose to 50 in February, up 4 points from January and the highest level since August.

• Y-O-Y: Builder confidence is up 4 points from the same time last year.

National Index. Nationally, homebuilder confidence also climbed for the third consecutive month to 48 in February, up 4 points from January and the highest level since August.

• Homebuilders continue to fell good about the future as sales expectations in the next six months rose 3 points to 60 which is the highest level since June.

• Current sales conditions increased 4 points to 52 while the component gauging traffic of prospective buyers increased 4 points to 33.

Analysis. Alicia Huey, NAHB Chairman, noted that buyer traffic is improving “Buyer traffic is improving as even small declines in interest rates will produce a disproportionate positive response among likely home purchasers…And while mortgage rates still remain too high for many prospective buyers, we anticipate that due to pent-up demand, many more buyers will enter the marketplace if mortgage rates continue to decline this year.”