Home builder confidence climbs slightly

Building confidence eked up slightly this month, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index, which measures builder confidence in the single-family, new construction market. The index reached 17, according to the NAHB March report, after four consecutive months of remaining flat, hovering around an index score of 16. While this modest uptick is welcome news for the building industry, the ranking is still low enough to indicate a bleak outlook — any score below 50 on the index means builders view market conditions poorly. “Unfortunately, most small builders report that they are no more able to obtain credit for new construction today than they have been in the past year,” noted David Crowe, chief economist with NAHB. TRD