“Even with this month’s drop, builder confidence has remained in the 60s for six straight months – a sign that the single-family housing market is making long-term headway”, said NAHB Chairman Tom Woods, a home builder from Blue Springs, Mo.
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The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index pulled back 3 points to 62, a bit weaker than the 64 reading expected by economists polled by MarketWatch.
Readings above 50 indicate more builders view sales conditions as good, rather than poor.
However, NAHB warned that “members continue to voice concerns about the availability of lots and labor”.
Economists had estimated that the index for November stayed unchanged month-on-month at 64.
In October, the HMI jumped four points to a score of 65-an 11 point increase from October 2014, when the builder confidence reading was 54. Confidence was little changed in the Northeast and rose in the West.
The index measuring sales expectations in the next six months fell to 70 in November from 75 in October, while the component gauging current sales conditions dipped to 67 from 70. Buyer traffic did increase, but only by one point on the scale. Employers added 271,000 workers to payrolls in October, the largest monthly gain this year, while the jobless rate fell to a seven-year low of 5 percent.
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Solid hiring over the past three years has improved many family balance sheets, while rising home prices has returned equity to current homeowners now seeking to upgrade to new residential developments. The September reading was the second-highest level since 2007.
