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U.S. builder confidence for newly-built, single-family homes rebounded in November as both sales expectation and buyer traffic improved, a leading industry report said Tuesday.
The builder sentiment index rose to 58 this month, up from October's reading of 54 and higher than the market expectation of 55, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/ Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Any reading over 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good, rather than poor.
"Growing confidence among consumers is what's fueling this optimism among builders," said NAHB Chairman Kevin Kelly in a statement. "Members in many areas of the country continue to see increasing buyer traffic and signed contracts."
In November, the HMI index gauging view on current sales conditions increased five points to 62, and the component measuring traffic of prospective buyers rose four points to 45. The component gauging sales expectations for the next six months moved up two points to 66.
"Low interest rates, affordable home prices and solid job creation are contributing to a steady housing recovery," said NAHB 's chief economist David Crowe. "After a slow start to the year, the HMI has remained above the 50-point benchmark for five consecutive months, and we expect the momentum to continue into 2015."
But other indicators showed that the U.S. housing market still struggled to regain sales momentum. Sales of U.S. new homes rose just 1.7 percent in the first nine months of this year from the same period in 2013, while sales of previously-owned homes fell 1. 7 percent in September from a year earlier, according to the Commerce Department and the National Association of Realtors.
The Federal Reserve has warned that the housing recovery remained slow so far this year and could become a drag on wider economic growth.
