U.S. builder confidence for new single-family homes in August rose 6 points from July to 78 points, a 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 6 points to 84 and the measurement of sales expectations in the next six months gained 3 points from July to 78. The component measuring prospective buyer traffic was also up 8 points from July to a record-high of 65.
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
