Confidence among builders regarding single-family homes held steady and solid for the month of April.
According to a report from the National Association of Home Builders, the confidence index for April was 68, still above the break-even level of 50, and three points lower than the previous month.
One key index, the HMI measure of surrent sales condition, was over 70 for the fifth consecutive month, the report said, noting this indicates a healthy demand for new construction nationwide.
Meanwhile last month, Alabama’s housing inventory dipped 8 percent compared to March 2016 to 26,014 homes. This number has consistently declined over the past three years.
Home sales in Alabama remained steady and healthy at 3,564 homes during the month.
According to NAHB, hefty regulatory costs and increases in building material prices, continue to play a role in the lack of inventory moving onto the market.
“Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for 30 years, the 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.”
