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Visitor traffic in new developments and home builder confidence remain at a small fraction of their pre-recession levels, data from the National Association of Home Builders indicates.
Single family confidence
The single family confidence measures the share of homebuilders that are optimistic about sales of single family homes. The NAHB’s survey covers 420 housing developers. The index at 16 is unchanged from a month ago and remains below the record-low reading prior to this recession. The index hit 19 in January 1991, but jumped the next month. The index has been below 19, the previous record low, for 30 of the last 32 months.
An index value of 50 indicates more builders are optimistic about the future. May 2006 was the last time the index was at 50.
Traffic of potential buyers
The traffic index measures how many potential buyers visit new developments. This index, at 12, is up slightly, but still remains extremely depressed.
Readings in the last two years have been the lowest in the history of the index, which began in 1985. The index was below 20 for a three-month stretch in 1990-1991, but recovered quickly; that had been the lowest point before this recession. The index dipped to 19 in July 2007 and has been below 20 for 41 straight months.
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