Lower Mortgage Rates a Boost for Builder Confidence in August
Declining mortgage interest rates helped boost builders’ confidence in the market for new single-family homes this month, according to the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The index rose to 71 for August, up four points from July’s revised number and the same level it was a year earlier.
NAHB President Bobby Rayburn said that a decline in mortgage interest rates — from 6.29% in June to 6.05% in July and below 6% this month — “undoubtedly helped push builder optimism to its highest level since October of 2003 as potential buyers who might have been sitting it out started diving back into the market when rates headed downward.”
Citing a favorable climate for home finance and solid house-price performance, Rayburn added that, “We have good reason to expect continued strength in the housing market in the months ahead.”