Notizie economiche
15.04.2024

U.S. homebuilder confidence remains unchanged in April, as expected

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.

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