Builder confidence slips
February 20, 2003
NAHB's housing market index falls 2 points in February
Inman News Features
Home builders were slightly less optimistic about conditions in the single-family market in February, the National Association of Home Builders reported today.
NAHB's housing market index, a measure of builder confidence, slipped two points to a reading of 62 this month, but has remained within the same three-point range since September.
The index, reported a day late this month due to Washington, D.C.'s snow emergency, is derived from a monthly survey of builders asked to rate current conditions of single-family home sales and expectations for the next six months as either "good," "fair" or "poor." An index reading of more than 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor, according to NAHB.
The component gauging current sales conditions for new single-family homes showed no change in February from its 69 reading in the previous month, while the component gauging builders' expectations of sales in the next six months dipped two points to 66.
However, the component gauging traffic of prospective buyers fell eight points to 43 in February.
Washington, D.C.-based NAHB is a trade association with more than 205,000 members involved in residential and light commercial construction.
Copyright: Inman News Service
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