By IANS,
Washington : US homebuilder confidence for newly built, single-family homes climbed in November to the highest level since May 2010, a nationwide industry report has revealed.
The nation’s homebuilder confidence rose by three points to 20 on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo’s Housing Market Index (HMI) in November, Xinhua reported.
Despite the fact that homebuilder confidence reached the highest level since May 2010, homebuilders in the US are feeling less pessimistic about the struggling housing market, because any reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the market. The index hasn’t rebounded above that level since April 2006.
Borrowing costs near a record low may start to bear fruit, but mortgage applications unexpectedly declined last week.
“Home building continues to face many challenges such as the high number of foreclosures, the difficulties of obtaining construction financing and accurate appraisals,” NAHB chairman Bob Nielsen said.
High unemployment, tighter lending standards, and stricter requirements for down-payments are keeping many potential home buyers from loosening the purse strings, noted the report.