U.S. builder confidence for new single-family homes in October rose 2 points from September to 85 points, another record high for the 35-year history of the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The HMI component gauging current sales conditions climbed 2 points to 90 and the measurement of sales expectations in the next six months gained 3 points from September to 88. The component measuring prospective buyer traffic stayed the same at 74.
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
