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US home builder sentiment levels up in February

US home builder sentiment levels up in February

Mubasher: The US homebuilder morale improved in February on the back of the reduced mortgage rates and the improvement of employment, data showed on Tuesday.

The US unemployment claims fell 19,000 week-on-week to 234,000 claims in the week ended 2 February.

The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) monthly confidence index, which gauges the newly-built single-family home market outlook, grew four points to 62 in February.

“Builder confidence levels moved up in tandem with growing consumer confidence and falling interest rates,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz,” NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz commented.

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The current sales conditions index, which is one of the components of the overall NAHB index, went up three points to 67, while the gauge of the expected sales in the coming six months added five points to 68 and the buyer traffic tracker rose four points to 48.

Dietz added: “The five-point jump on the six-month sales expectation for the HMI is due to mortgage interest rates dropping from about 5% in November to 4.4% this week. However, affordability remains a critical issue.”

In January, US homebuilder morale improved on a gradual decline in mortgage rates in recent weeks.