Builder Confidence Unchanged to Start 2016

Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes was unchanged in January with an index reading of 60, the same as December’s downwardly revised reading, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

"January's HMI reading is right in line with our forecast of modest growth for housing," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe in a statement. "The economic outlook remains promising, as consumers regain confidence and home values increase, which will help the housing market move forward."

The HMI component gauging current sales condition rose two points 67 in January. The index measuring sales expectations in the next six months fell three points to 63, and the component charting buyer traffic dropped two points to 44.

NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as "good," "fair" or "poor." The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as "high to very high," "average" or "low to very low." Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.