HOME BUILDER SENTIMENT REMAINS HIGH

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Confidence among U.S. home builders held steady in January, giving back very little following a sizable jump toward the end of 2014. A monthly index of builder sentiment from the National Association of Home Builders fell just one point in January to 57 from an upwardly-revised December reading. Anything above 50 is considered positive sentiment, and this marks seven straight months above 50.

“Steady economic growth, rising consumer confidence and a growing labor market will help the housing market continue to move forward in 2015,” said the association’s Chief Economist David Crowe in a release.

Of the index’s three components, current sales conditions remained unchanged at 62. Expectations for future sales dropped four points to 60, and traffic of prospective buyers fell two points to 44. Buyer traffic is the only component that seems unable to break into positive territory. On a three-month moving average, builder confidence in the West rose by four points to 66, in the Midwest gained three points to 57 and in the Northeast was up two points to 47. Confidence among builders in the South dropped two points to 58.

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