Homebuilder Confidence Levels Out in January

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
By Trey Thoelcke Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo housing market index for January slipped one point to 56 from a revised reading of 57 in November. The reading was lower than a forecast of 58 from economists polled by Reuters. An index reading above 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than view them as poor.

The current sales conditions sub-index ticked down one point in January to 62, and the sales expectations sub-index came in at 60, a drop of two points month-over-month. The sub-index that estimates prospective buyer traffic fell three points to come in at 40.

The chairman of the NAHB said:

Following an unexpected jump last month, builder confidence has essentially leveled out and is holding at a solid level. Many markets continue to improve and this bodes well for future home sales.

The NAHB’s chief economist noted:

Rising home prices, historically low mortgage rates and significant pent-up demand will drive a continuing, gradual recovery in the year ahead. However, the pace of the recovery could be stronger were it not for rising construction costs and inaccurate appraisals that are keeping some home sales from going through.

Among homebuilder stocks Thursday morning, Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE: MTH) was off the most, down about 2.0% at $44.46 in a 52-week range of $38.42 to $52.95.

TRI Pointe Homes Inc. (NYSE: TPH) was the biggest gainer Tuesday, up about 0.6% in morning trading at $17.50, in a post-IPO range of $13.43 to $21.25.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618