U.S. Homebuilder Confidence Jumps To Eleven-Month High In September

(RTTNews) - With homebuilders seeing more serious buyers amid rising household incomes, the National Association of Home Builders released a report on Monday showing a jump in U.S. homebuilder confidence in the month of September.

The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index surged up to 65 in September from a downwardly revised 59 in August.

Economists had expected the index to come in unchanged compared to the 60 originally reported for the previous month.

With the substantial increase, the housing market index reached its highest level since hitting a matching reading in October of 2015.

"With the inventory of new and existing homes remaining tight, builders are confident that if they can build more homes they can sell them," said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.

He added, "Though solid job creation and low interest rates are also fueling demand, builders continue to be hampered by supply-side constraints that include shortages of labor and lots."

The sharp increase by the housing market index reflected advances by all three of the components that make up the index.

The component measuring current sales expectations jumped six points to 71, and the gauge charting sales expectations in the next six months shot up five points to 71.

The NAHB said the index measuring traffic of prospective buyers posted a four-point gain, climbing to 48 in September.

On Tuesday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new residential construction in the month of August.

Housing starts are expected to dip to an annual rate of 1.190 million in August after jumping by 2.1 percent to a rate of 1.211 million in July.