The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo confidence index dropped to 14 this month, the lowest level since April 2009, from 16 in June.
This is deep in the hole. Readings lower than 50 mean more respondents said conditions were poor.
There doesn't appear to be any reason for any change in the anemic numbers. The builders group's index of current single-family home sales fell to 15 from 17. The gauge of buyer traffic dropped to 10 from 13 the prior month. A measure of sales expectations for the next six months decreased to 21, the lowest level since March 2009, from 22.
"We continue to see a lull in home buying activity following the expiration of the federal home buyers tax credit program as many of the sales that would have occurred this summer were likely pulled forward to meet the program's deadline," NAHB Chairman Bob Jones, a home builder from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, said in a statement. "In addition, builders are reporting continuing hesitancy regarding home purchases due to uncertainty in the overall economy and job markets."
The uncertainty that so many of us on the street are feeling is palatable. I know of several in my own circles who are without work and struggling to find it. And I just talked with another family who is losing their home to foreclosure. When I see that and these numbers I just don't see how DC and Wall Street think things are improving, particularly when you country is going deeper into debt by the second.
ReplyDeleteWell? I'm gonna say it again. No residential housing, no recovery. Never was. Never will be.
ReplyDelete