Despite an improvement in buyer traffic for new residential properties, a decline in the outlook for the rest of this year kept home builder confidence from improving.
For July, the Housing Market Index was 68. The index is a monthly measure of builder confidence. An index of more than 50 means more builders view conditions as good than poor.
No change in the index was recorded versus the preceding month. But the index now stands four points higher than it did during the same month last year.
The index, from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo, was reported Tuesday.
“Builders are encouraged by growing housing demand, but they continue to be burdened by rising construction material costs,” NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said in the report.
Among three
components of the index is one measuring buyer traffic, which climbed two points to 52. The index measuring current sales was unchanged at 74, and the index that gauges the six-month outlook fell to points to 73.
A one point increase from June in the three-month average for the Northeast put the index there at 57. No change was recorded
for the Midwest, leaving that index at 65. A one-point decline had the indices in the West at 75 and in the South at 70.
