Builder confidence sees slight increase in November

November showed a slight increase in builder confidence for the new single-family home market, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, which showed the HMI moving up one point to 16 from last month’s level of 15.

NAHB chairman Bob Jones noted the results show that people appear to be more serious about buying in the near future, but added builders remain “concerned” about the shortage of available financing for new-home construction, saying, “You can’t sell what you can’t build,” said Jones.

The part of the report gauging sales expectations in the next six months rose two points to 25. "The most positive aspect of today's report is the future expectations component,” said NAHB chief economist David Crowe.

The HMI scores showed that builder confidence in all American regions except the Northeast, which dropped three points to 13, either held even or saw improvements of up to five points.

The last time builder confidence was in positive territory was April 2006. Positive territory is classified as any score of 50 or better.

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