The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index increased by 1 point to 83 in April.
NAHB Chairman Chuck Fowke noted that strong buyer demand continues but challenges posed by high costs for materials and slower delivery times is weighing on builder confidence.
“While mortgage interest rates have trended higher since February and home prices continue to outstrip inflation, housing demand appears to be unwavering for now as buyer traffic reached its highest level since November,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “NAHB’s forecast is for ongoing growth in single-family construction in 2021, albeit at a lower growth rate than realized in 2020.”
The HMI component measuring buyer traffic was 75. The component measuring current sales conditions sales conditions increased one point to 88 while the component measuring sales expectations in the next six months fell two points to 81.
Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast rose six points 86 and the South moved up one point to 83. The West held steady at 90 and the Midwest fell two points to 78.
Read the NAHB release.
