The Housing Market Index tumbles slightly this month, falling two points from 69 in May 2017. This index is derived from a month-over-month survey which indicates builder confidence. This datais released by National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo.
The respondents are asked to rate the current housing market conditions on present home sales and in the next six months. It also measures seasonally adjusted Housing Market Index in the four regions of the U.S.
Survey Highlights (National)
- The National Housing Market Index (HMI) on the seasonally adjusted basis has dropped to 67 points in June 2017 from the revised 69 points from a month prior. The HMI in June still is 2 points above the lowest recorded HMI for this year, 65 points in February.
- One of the HMI components, the sales in single-family homes, was also going downwards. From 75 in May of this year, if fell to 73 in June.
- Another component, which is the home sales for single-family units in the next six months, fell down. It declined 2 points from May’s 78 reading.
- The last HMI component, Which is the traffic of prospective buyers to new homes, also plummeted down. June 2017’s reading was 49 points, 2 points less than the previous month.
On the regional seasonally adjusted HMI, only the Midwest increased from 65 points in May to 69 in June. All three other region’s HMI fell down, with the West having the biggest decline with 9 points. The West region HMI in June 2016 is 71 points, while in May it was 80. Northeast was down by 1 point from 47 in May to 46 the next month. HMI in the South region fell 3 points to 68 in June from 71 in May.
NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said, “As the housing market strengthens and more buyers enter the market, builders continue to express their frustration over an ongoing shortage of skilled labor and buildable lots that are impeding stronger growth in the single-family sector.”
