Dive Brief:
- U.S. homebuilders pushed the June monthly National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) into optimistic territory.
- Based on survey responses from NAHB members, the overall index rose to 53, up from 49 in May and the first time it has been above 50 since January.
- All three of the index components rose – current sales conditions to 57 and future sale expectations to 64 – but the one that asks builders about traffic from prospective buyers remained well in pessimistic territory at 39.
Dive Insight:
It's not clear how sales expectations can be as high as it is while buyer traffic is low. Regionally, the index's three-month moving average was up but still pessimistic in the Northeast and Midwest and up and above 50 in the South and West.
