The National
Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) informed on Monday its housing market index
(HMI) held steady at 51 in April. This breaks a four-month period of increases in the indicator.
Economists had expected the HMI to remain unchanged at 51.
A reading over
50 indicates more builders view conditions as good than poor.
Two of three major
HMI components demonstrated gains in early April. The
component tracking current sales conditions increased by 1 point to 57, and the component
measuring traffic of prospective buyers rose by 1 point to 35. Meanwhile, the
component charting sales expectations in the next six months also fell by 2 points
to 60.
Commenting on
the latest report, NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said that April’s flat
reading suggests that potential for demand growth is there but buyers are
hesitating until they can better gauge where interest rates are headed. “With
the markets now adjusting to rates being somewhat higher due to recent
inflation readings, we still anticipate the Federal Reserve will announce
future rate cuts later this year, and that mortgage rates will moderate in the
second half of 2024,” he added.