NAHB Housing Market Index: “Builder Confidence Stays Strong In February”

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Market Index (HMI) is a gauge of builder opinion on the relative level of current and future single-family home sales. It is a diffusion index, which means that a reading above 50 indicates a favorable outlook on home sales; below 50 indicates a negative outlook.

The latest reading of 72, unchanged from last month’s number, came in at the Investing.com forecast.

Here is the opening of this morning’s monthly update:

Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes remained unchanged at a healthy 72 level in February on the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

“Builders are excited about the pro-business political climate that will strengthen the housing market and support overall economic growth,” said NAHB Chairman Randy Noel. “However, they need to manage supply-side construction hurdles, such as shortages of labor and lots and building material price increases.” [link to report]

Here is the historical series, which dates from 1985.

The HMI correlates fairly closely with broad measures of consumer confidence. Here is a pair of overlays with the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (through the previous month) and the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index.