Reflecting concerns about the recent hurricanes, the National Association of Home Builders released a report on Monday showing a bigger than expected drop in U.S. homebuilder confidence in the month of September.
The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index dropped to 64 in September from a downwardly revised 67 in August.
Economists had expected the housing market index to edge down to 67 from the 68 originally reported for the previous month.
"The recent hurricanes have intensified our members' concerns about the availability of labor and the cost of building materials," said NAHB Chairman Granger MacDonald.
He added, "Once the rebuilding process is underway, I expect builder confidence will return to the high levels we saw this spring."
The bigger than expected decrease by the housing market index reflected declines by all three off the components that make up the index.
The component gauging current sales conditions fell four points to 70, and the index charting sales expectations in the next six months dropped four points to 74. The component measuring buyer traffic slipped one point to 47.
by RTT Staff Writer
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