Dive summary:

• It appears that a majority of home builders believe a real recovery has reached their markets, with the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) moving over the 50 mark – to 52 – to territory it has not explored in more than seven years.
• The index's three-month moving average, a less volatile measure, was up in three of the four regions the NAHB measures, slipping only in the West and only by one point there.
• The national figure jumped eight points from May, and all three of its components rose – current sales to 56, future sales (the next six months) to 61 and prospective-buyer traffic to 40.

From the article:

“Today’s report is consistent with our forecast for a 29 percent increase in total housing starts this year, which would mark the first time since 2007 that starts have topped the 1 million mark.” [NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe]...