Blame it on the Weather: Builder Confidence Drops in February

Builder confidence in newly built, single-family homes saw a slight downward move of two points to a level of 55 on the National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index.

Blame it on the weather, said NAHB Chairman Tom Woods in a statement.

"Overall, builder sentiment remains fairly solid, with this slight downturn largely attributable to the unusually high snow levels across much of the nation," he said.

The HMI consists of three components, of which two posted losses in February. The component that measures current sales conditions ticked one point down to 61 and the component the gauges buyer traffic dropped five points to 39. Meanwhile, sales expectations in the next six months stayed the same at 60.

The West saw a two-point HMI gain to 68. In the Northeast, the HMI fell one point to 46. The Midwest and South each dropped two points to 54 and 57.

An HMI level higher than 50 means more builders are confident than not confident. The HMI has held in the mid- to upper 50s range for the past eight months, said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe in a statement.

"Solid job growth, affordable home prices and historically low mortgage rates should help unleash growing pent-up demand and keep the housing market moving forward in the year ahead,” he added.