U.S. builder confidence for new single-family homes in August dropped 5 points from July to 75, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The HMI component gauging current sales conditions decreased 5 points to 81 and the measurement of sales expectations in the next six months remained at 81 points from July. The component measuring prospective buyer traffic fell 5 points to 60 in August.
Derived from a monthly NAHB survey, the HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months. Scores from each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good rather than poor. See NAHB
