Builder confidence bounces back in July: NAHB/Wells Fargo report

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose two points to 15 on the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for July, released today. The gain largely offsets a three-point dip recorded in June, and marks the ninth time out of the past 10 months in which the index has held within the same three-point range.

Two out of three of the HMI's component indexes rebounded in July from declines in the previous month. The component gauging current sales conditions rose two points to 15, returning to its May level, while the component gauging sales expectations in the next six months rose seven points to 22, which is where it stood in April. The component gauging traffic of prospective buyers held even with the previous month, at 12.

Regionally, the HMI inched up one point to 12 in the Midwest and posted three-point gains in both the South and West, to 17 and 14, respectively. Only the Northeast posted a decline, slipping two points to 15.

For more on the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI July report, visit: http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?newsID=13052