U.S. Home-Builder Confidence Continues to Rise in October to a New High
October 19 2020 - 10:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Xavier Fontdegloria
Home-builder confidence in the U.S. increased in October for a
sixth straight month, further surpassing the previous all-time high
recorded in September, according to a measure from the National
Association of Home Builders. Here are the report's main
takeaways:
--The association's housing market index, which gauges the
single-family housing market, increased to 85 in October, up two
points from September level of 83. A number over 50 indicates that
more builders view conditions as good than poor.
--The reading beats economists' forecasts from The Wall Street
Journal poll, which estimated the index to slightly tick down to
82.
--October marks the sixth consecutive improvement of the index.
The indicator, which registered the biggest ever on-month drop in
April, stands currently at its highest level in the 35-year history
of the series. It also is the first time that the index has been
above 80 for two consecutive months.
--"The housing market continues to be a bright spot for the
economy, supported by increased buyer interest in the suburbs,
exurbs and small towns," said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.
"Single-family home sales are outpacing starts by a historic
margin. Bridging this gap will require either a gain in
construction volume or reductions in available inventory, which is
already at a historic low in terms of month's supply," he said.
--"Traffic remains high and record-low interest rates are
keeping demand strong as the concept of home has taken on renewed
importance for work, study and other purposes in the Covid-19 era,"
NAHB Chairman Chuck Fowke said.
--All the HMI indexes posted or matched their highest readings
ever in October. The index gauging current sales conditions rose
two points to 90, the component measuring sales expectations in the
next six months increased to 88 from 85 the previous month, and the
measure charting traffic of prospective buyers held steady at
74.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 19, 2020 10:14 ET (14:14 GMT)
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