Home Builder confidence level remains low; HMI Index at 16

If you go to Google Finance and bring up the income statements of the U.S.'s largest home builders (KB Homes, DR Horton, Toll Brothers, Lennar, and others) and peruse through their annual sales figures from 2006 through the current time - it is a "jaw-dropping" exercise. Unbelievable how home builders' sales have plunged as much as they have.


Just noticed this on MarketWatch:

ECONOMIC REPORT
Dec. 15, 2010, 10:15 a.m. EST
Builders index stuck at low level in December
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes remained unchanged at low levels in December, according to a report released Wednesday.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index remaining unchanged at 16.

Housing still on edge

Nick Timiraos discusses worry among economists that the housing market could be headed toward another downdraft as mortgage lenders tighten credit.

The component gauging the traffic of prospective buyers fell a single point, to 11, while the components on current sales conditions and sales expectations for the next six months were steady.

The seasonally adjusted index is based on a score where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor — which hasn’t been the case since April 2006.

“The steady but low level of the HMI reflects the fact that builders and consumers have yet to see consistent signs that the economy is improving,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.