An April homebuilder’s confidence survey revealed the largest one-month rise in the past five years, indicating builders are beginning to feel more optimistic about the market. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index climbed five points in April, to reach its highest point since October 2008: a rise of six points from its historic low in January 2009. The improvement in builder morale is attributable to improved sales due to a combination of lower housing prices and government incentives.
first tuesday take: Sadly, this national news has no direct relevance to the California homebuilding and new homes sales climate. Further, it has no relationship to California’s MLS inventory, our phantom real estate owned (REO) inventory, the visible and incoming tidal wave of west-of-the-continental-divide foreclosures, the mental condition of California builders, or the status of their sales or construction activity. One strong point for the California builders was the California tax credit, which helped them to reduce their inventories, but sadly that too is now gone.
Re: “Homebuilder sentiment index soars 5 points”, from San Francisco Gate
