A modest increase in home mortgage rates over the past month hasn’t dampened builder enthusiasm in the market for new single-family homes, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The confidence gauge remained unchanged in March from an upwardly revised reading of 69 in February. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index is derived from a monthly survey of builders that NAHB has been conducting for nearly 20 years. On a regional basis, the index gauging builder confidence in the Northeast rose six points to 74 in March, while the index for the West rose four points to 83. Builders in the South posted a one-point HMI decline to 73, while builders in the Midwest ? where the job market remains relatively weak ? posted a two-point decline to 53. As a member of the western region, Las Vegas real estate market conditions continue to be reflective of the regional data.

This entry was posted by Michelle Sterling on Wednesday, March 16th, 2005 at 8:08 pm and is filed under Business & The Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.