Dive Brief:

• Members of The National Association of Home Builders' seem more optimistic about business, but single-family builders seem much more confident about sales prospects than there are serious buyers.
• The overall number rose two points to 55, and the scale for what is officially known as the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index is set so that anything over 50 means the optimists outnumber the pessimists.
• Current sales and sales over the next six months were at 58 and 65, respectively, but the sentiment about how many people are coming in to shop seriously was up three points, but it is still at 48.

Dive Insight:

NAHB was pleased that everything went up, and buyer traffic may be contributed to economic improvements like job growth, if the jobs pay enough to enable buyers. Median household income is still well below pre-recession levels. Regionally, three-month regional moving averages in the NAHB index were 55 in the Midwest, 56 in the West, 52 in the South and 38 on the Northeast. Still, that's a rise for all four.