U.S. Homebuilder Confidence Unexpectedly Decreases In June
June 18 2018 - 5:13AM
RTTF2
Partly reflecting sharply elevated lumber prices, the National
Association of Home Builders released a report on Monday
unexpectedly showing a deterioration in U.S. homebuilder confidence
in the month of June.
The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index dipped
to 68 in June from 70 in May. Economists had expected the index to
come in unchanged.
"Builders are increasingly concerned that tariffs placed on
Canadian lumber and other imported products are hurting housing
affordability," said NAHB Chairman Randy Noel.
He added, "Record-high lumber prices have added nearly $9,000 to
the price of a new single-family home since January 2017."
The unexpected drop by the housing market index reflected
one-point decreases by all three of the components that make up the
index.
The NAHB said the index measuring current sales conditions fell
to 75, the component gauging expectations in the next six months
dropped to 76, and the metric charting buyer traffic edged down to
50.
On Tuesday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a
separate report on new residential construction in the month of
May.
Housing stocks are expected to rise to an annual rate of 1.317
million in May after slumping to a rate of 1.287 million in
April.
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