By Jann Swanson | Mortgage News Daily
New home builders are looking ahead, and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) says this optimism was reflected in its Housing Market Index (HMI) for February. While the total HMI, which is also sponsored by Wells Fargo, was unchanged from January at 72, its most forward-looking component hit a post-recession high.
The HMI is derived from a monthly survey NAHB conducts among its new-home builder members. The survey asks builders for their perceptions of current market conditions for newly constructed homes and their expectations for-those conditions over the next six months, ranking each 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.
