U.S. builder confidence for new single-family homes in July rallied 14 points from June to 72 points on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The index is now on par with pre-pandemic levels in March. The HMI component gauging current sales conditions climbed 16 points to 79, while the measurement of sales expectations in the next six months gained 7 points from June to 75. The component measuring prospective buyer traffic was also up 15 points from June to 58.
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
