Housing Index Jumps

The NAHB Housing Market Index rose five points to 62 in June, according to the National Association of Home Builders.In addition, the index gauging builder sentiment about the current single-family sales market rose five points, to 67, and the measure of expected sales over the next six months increased one point, to 70. The reading for prospective homebuyer traffic rose six points, to 46, the NAHB said. "Builders are now as confident in the new-homes market as they were prior to the buildup to the conflict with Iraq and before poor weather conditions weighed on the market in March," said NAHB president Kent Conine, a home and apartment builder from Dallas. "In fact, builder expectations for future home sales are now even more buoyant than early in the year." Anything above 50 in the index and its components, which are based on surveys of hundreds of builders, means homebuilders believe that the single-family housing market is doing well. The NAHB can be found online at http://www.nahb.com.