Homebuilder confidence in the U.S. continued to hold steady in the month of May, the National Association of Home Builders revealed in a report on Monday.
The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index came in at 58 in May, unchanged from the three previous months. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 59.
"Builder confidence has held steady at 58 for four straight months, which indicates that the single-family housing sector remains in positive territory," said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady. "However, builders are facing an increasing number of regulations and lot supply constraints."
The NAHB said the index component measuring sales expectations in the next six months climbed to 65 in May from 62 in April.
Meanwhile, the component charting current sales conditions and the index gauging buyer traffic both held steady at 63 and 44, respectively.
"The fact that future sales expectations rose slightly this month shows that builders are confident that the market will continue to strengthen," said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.
He added, "Job creation, low mortgage interest rates and pent-up demand will also spur growth in the single-family housing sector moving forward."
Looking at the three-month moving averages for the regional indexes, the South and Midwest both registered one-point gains to 59 and 58, respectively. The West was unchanged at 67, while the Northeast fell three points to 41.
On Tuesday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new residential construction in the month of April.
Housing starts are expected to climb to an annual rate of 1.135 million in April from 1.089 million in March. Building permits are also expected to rise to a rate of 1.130 million from 1.086 million.
by RTT Staff Writer
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