U.S. builder confidence for new single-family homes in December 2022 dropped for the 12th consecutive month, decreasing two points from November to 31, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The HMI component gauging current sales conditions shrunk three points to 36, while the measurement of sales expectations in the next six months rose four points to 35 in December. The prospective buyer traffic component remained at 20, unchanged from November.
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
