U.S. Homebuilder Confidence Rebounds More Than Expected In April

(RTTNews) - After reporting a notable deterioration in U.S. homebuilder confidence in the previous month, the National Association of Home Builders released a report on Wednesday showing that confidence has rebounded by more than expected in April.

The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index jumped to 56 in April from a downwardly revised 52 in March.

Economists had been expecting the index to climb to 55 from the reading of 53 originally reported for the previous month.

The downwardly revised reading for March reflects the lowest level for the index since it hit 49 in June of 2014.

The bigger than expected rebound by the housing market index reflects gains by all three of the components of the index.

NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe highlighted the increase by the component charting sales expectations in the next six months, which jumped to 64 in April from 59 in March.

"This uptick shows builders are feeling optimistic that the housing market will continue to strengthen throughout 2015," Crowe said.

The index measuring buyer traffic also climbed to 41 in April from 37 in March, while the component gauging current sales conditions rose to 61 from 58.

NAHB Chairman Tom Woods said, "As the spring buying season gets underway, home builders are confident that current low interest rates and continued job growth will draw consumers to the market."

Thursday morning, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new residential construction in the month of March.

Economists expect housing starts to climb to an annual rate of 1.04 million in March after tumbling to a rate of 897,000 in February, the lowest level in over a year.