Homebuilder confidence beat expectations in October, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index…(NAHB)
- Builder confidence jumped four points in October to 80, which is still 5 points lower than it was one year ago.
- Economists had projected that the index would remain unchanged at 76.
Builders continue to remain more optimistic about the present then they do about the future.
- Confidence for single-family sales in the present was up 5 points to 87, which is only off 3 from October 2020.
- Confidence for single-family sales in the next 6 months was up 3 points to 84 which is 4 points lower than it was one year ago.
NOTE: Traffic of prospective buyers was up 4 points to 65 which is down 9 points from October 2020.
Regionally, the West’s 5 point increase to 85 barely beat out the South who saw a 4 point increase to 84.
- The Northeast and the Midwest were tied at 73 as the Northeast saw a 6 point month-over-month gain while the Midwest was up 4 points from September.
NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said in a statement that affordability moving forward is a big concern for builders…
- “Building material price increases and bottlenecks persist and interest rates are expected to rise in coming months as the Fed begins to taper its purchase of U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed debt. Policymakers must focus on fixing the broken supply chain. This will spur more construction and help ease upward pressure on home prices.”