Indicating strong and stable builder confidence in the
market for new single-family home sales, the National Association of Home
Builders' Housing Market Index (HMI) rose two points to 60 in March.
"Low interest rates, resilient home values and a stabilizing economy have
helped home buyers put whatever fears they might have had following Sept. 11
behind them, which in turn has produced renewed builder optimism," said Gary
Garczynski, NAHB president and a builder/developer from Woodbridge, Va.
After falling nine points to a more than six-year low of 47 in the weeks
following the Sept. 11 attacks on America, the index gauging builder
sentiment rebounded strongly in November, December and January before
dropping back two points to 58 in February. "March's two-point gain in the
HMI, which brings the index back up to where it was at the peak of the
rebound in January and to the same level as in August, is a testament to the
resilience of the American home buyer and of the housing industry,"
Garczynski said.
The HMI is derived from a monthly survey of builders that NAHB has been
conducting for nearly two decades. Home builders are asked to rate current
sales of single-family homes and sales expectations for the next six months
as "good," "fair" or "poor." They are also asked to rate traffic of
prospective buyers as either "high to very high," "average" or "low to very
low." Scores for responses to each component are used to calculate a
seasonally adjusted index, where any number over 50 indicates that more
builders view sales conditions as good than poor.
Two out of three of the HMI's component indexes rose in March. The index
gauging current sales of single-family homes rose three points to 65 while
the index gauging sales expectations in the next six months rose two points
to 69. Meanwhile, the index gauging traffic of prospective buyers fell two
points to 44, the same level at which it stood prior to Sept. 11.
Editor's Note: Please view web sites
,
and for details of NAHB's 2002 Leadership
Biographies, International Builders' Show in Atlanta and upcoming National
Green Building Conference in Seattle.
Published: March 19, 2002
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