Chart Book | Chart of the day: Housing confidence builds in US
The US National Association of Home Builders housing market index edged up to 61 this month from 60 in July. This took the indicator of homebuilder confidence to its highest level since November 2005. The increase was driven by an improvement in buying sentiment in almost all regions in the country, except the Northeast region. "This supports our expectation for further improvement in the coming months," ABN Amro said in a note to clients. Meanwhile, housing starts rose 0.2 per cent to near an eight-year high in July as builders ramped up construction. This followed a 12.3 per cent surge a month earlier. Admittedly, housing permits were much weaker, at minus 16.3 per cent, but that came on the back of three months of strong gains.
The US National Association of Home Builders housing market index edged up to 61 this month from 60 in July. This took the indicator of homebuilder confidence to its highest level since November 2005. The increase was driven by an improvement in buying sentiment in almost all regions in the country, except the Northeast region. "This supports our expectation for further improvement in the coming months," ABN Amro said in a note to clients. Meanwhile, housing starts rose 0.2 per cent to near an eight-year high in July as builders ramped up construction. This followed a 12.3 per cent surge a month earlier. Admittedly, housing permits were much weaker, at minus 16.3 per cent, but that came on the back of three months of strong gains.