Builder confidence continues to rise

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose for a fifth consecutive month in September to a level of 40 on the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).  The latest three-point gain brings the index to its highest reading since June of 2006.

Builder confidence also rose across every region of the country. Looking at the three-month moving average for each region, the Midwest and West each registered five-point gains, to 40 and 43, respectively, while the South posted a four-point gain to 36 and the Northeast posted a two-point gain to 30.

The Builder Confidence Index measures builder sentiment about the building industry through a survey a NAHB members conducted by the Housing Economics Department of NAHB.  The index measures sentiment on a scale of 0 to 100.  A measure of 50 indicates a neutral sentiment.  Above 50 indicates a positive sentiment, and below 50 indicates a negative sentiment.  The index bottomed out at 8 in January 2009 and has been steadily rising since January 2012.

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