With current sales conditions weakening, home builders are feeling less optimistic in the first month of the new year about new construction.
During January, the
Housing Market Index landed at 67. An index over 50 indicates more builders view conditions as good than poor.
The outlook from the home-building sector
deteriorated compared to the final month of 2016, when the index was a downwardly revised 69.
But a six-point increase in the index has been registered versus January 2015.
The index is jointly published by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo.
One of three components that make up the index, prospective buyer traffic,
was 51, declining a point from December 2016.
Another component, current sales conditions, was 72, off three points from a month earlier.
The third component, sales expectations for the next six months,
fell two points to 76.
Based on a three-month moving average, builders in the Midwest saw the most improvement, with the HMI rising three points there to 64.
A two-point gain in the Northeast left that index at 52.
In the West, the index was 79 this month, no different than in December. Also registering no change was the South, where the HMI was 67.
