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The Week Ahead: Gauging Housing Market Conditions

On Tuesday, October 16, the National Association of Home Builders [1] (NAHB) will release its latest data on the single-family housing market through its Housing Market Index (HMI). This index is based on a monthly survey of NAHB members where respondents are asked to rate market conditions for the sale of new homes at the present time and in the next six months as well as the traffic of prospective buyers of new homes. The data releasing on Tuesday will look at the housing market’s indicators for October.

In September, HMI data indicated that builders remained confident about the housing market with the index registering a reading of 67 and remaining unchanged from August.

“A growing economy and rising incomes combined with increasing household formations should boost demand for new single-family homes moving forward,” said Robert Dietz, Chief Economist at NAHB. “However, housing affordability is becoming a challenge, as builders face overly burdensome regulations and rising material costs exacerbated by an escalating trade skirmish. Interest rates are also forecasted to keep rising.”

The HMI index measuring current sales conditions rose one point to 74 and the component gauging expectations in the next six months increased two points to 74. Meanwhile, the metric charting buyer traffic held steady at 49.

Here’s what else is happening in The Week Ahead: