Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was 32 in June, down two points from May, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. The index has only posted a lower reading twice since 2012 – in December 2022 when it hit 31 and in April of 2020 at the start of the pandemic when it plunged more than 40 points to 30.
“Buyers are increasingly moving to the sidelines due to elevated mortgage rates and tariff and economic uncertainty,” said NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes, a home builder and developer from Lexington, NC. “To help address affordability concerns and bring hesitant buyers off the fence, a growing number of buildings are moving to cut prices.”
“Rising inventory levels and prospective home buyers who are on hold waiting for affordability conditions to improve are resulting in weakening price growth in most markets and generating price declines for resales in a growing number of markets,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “Given current market conditions, NAHB is forecasting a decline in single-family starts for 2025”
The survey also showed that 37% of builders cut home prices in June, the highest percentage since NAHB began tracking this figure on a monthly basis in 2022. This compares with 34% of builders who reported cutting prices in May and 29% in April. Meanwhile, the average price reduction was 5% in June, the same as it’s been every month since last November. The use of sales incentives was 62% in June, up one percentage point from May
Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast fell one point to 43, the Midwest moved one point higher to 41, the South dropped three points to 33 and the West fell four points to 28.
Read the NAHB release.
