Building confidence in January dropped two points to a level of 72 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index after hitting an 18-year high in December.
"The HMI gauge of future sales expectations has remained in the 70s, a sign that housing demand should continue to grow in 2018," said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz in a statement. "As the overall economy strengthens, owner-occupied household formation increases and the supply of existing home inventory tightens, we can expect the single-family housing market to make further gains this year."
The HMI’s three components posted minor losses in January: Current sales conditions fell one point to 73, sales expectations over the next six months fell one point to 78, and buyer traffic fell four points to 54.
The HMI three-month moving average increased in all four regions—by two points in the West to 81, by one point to 73 in the South, by one point to 70 in the Midwest and by five points to 59 in the Northeast.
