U.S. Home-Builder Confidence Drops in January
January 20 2021 - 10:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Martinez
Home-builder confidence in the U.S. decreased in January due to
rising material costs and a resurgence of the coronavirus across
much of the nation, 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, fell to 83 in January, down three
points from the December level of 86. A number above 50 indicates
that more builders view conditions as good than poor.
--The reading is below economists' forecasts from The Wall
Street Journal poll, which estimated the index to decline to
85.
--Despite the drop, builder sentiment remains at a strong level,
the National Association of Home Builders said.
--"While housing continues to help lead the economy forward,
limited inventory is constraining more robust growth," NAHB Chief
Economist Robert Dietz said. A shortage of buildable lots is making
it difficult to meet strong demand and rising material prices are
far outpacing increases in home prices, which in turn is harming
housing affordability, he said.
--"Builders are grappling with supply-side constraints related
to lumber and other material costs, a lack of affordable lots and
labor shortages that delay delivery times and put upward pressure
on home prices," NAHB Chairman Chuck Fowke said.
--All the HMI indexes decreased in January compared with the
previous month. The index gauging current sales conditions dropped
two points to 90, the component measuring sales expectations in the
next six months fell two points to 83, and the measure charting
traffic of prospective buyers declined five points to 68.
Write to Maria Martinez at maria.martinez@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 20, 2021 10:14 ET (15:14 GMT)
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