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US: Housing Market Index
| Consensus | Consensus Range | Actual | Previous | |
| Index | 36 | 36 to 37 | 35 | 37 |
Highlights
The homebuilder sentiment index comes in at 35 in June, below the 36 Econoday consensus, and down from an unrevised 37 in May. That is still up from a very gloomy 32 in June 2025.
The current sales index is down to 38 in June from 40 in May and versus 35 a year ago. Buyers appear to be holding back and builders are unhappy, presumably given rising materials costs and affordability challenges including high mortgage rates. More builders resort to discounting to promote sales.
The NAHB says this is the 14th straight month that the sentiment index has held below 40, a streak not seen since 2011-2012 during the mortgage foreclosure crisis.
Using 3-month moving averages for regional index levels, the Northeast is up two points to 44, the Midwest is flat at 43, the South falls two points to 33 and the West drops one point to 27.
Market Consensus Before Announcement
The consensus sees builder sentiment down at 36 June from an already pessimistic 37 in May.
Definition
The housing market index is a monthly composite that tracks home builder assessments of present and future sales as well as buyer traffic. The index is a weighted average of separate diffusion indexes: present sales of new homes, sales of new homes expected in the next six months, and traffic of prospective buyers of new homes.
Description
This report provides a gauge of not only the demand for housing, but the economic momentum. People have to be feeling pretty comfortable and confident in their own financial position to buy a house. Furthermore, this narrow piece of data has a powerful multiplier effect through the economy, and therefore across the markets and your investments. By tracking economic data such as the housing market index, investors can gain specific investment ideas as well as broad guidance for managing a portfolio. Whether the housing market index reflects new home sales or home resales, once a home is sold, it generates revenues for the realtor and the builder. It brings a myriad of consumption opportunities for the buyer. Refrigerators, washers, dryers and furniture are just a few items home buyers might purchase. The economic"ripple effect" can be substantial especially when you think a hundred thousand new households around the country are doing this every month. Since the economic backdrop is the most pervasive influence on financial markets, home sales have a direct bearing on stocks, bonds and commodities. In a more specific sense, trends in the existing home sales data carry valuable clues for the stocks of home builders, mortgage lenders and home furnishings companies.
