WASHINGTON, May 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. builder confidence for newly- built, single-family homes fell to the lowest level in a year in May as the recovery of housing market is cooling, a leading industry report said Thursday.
The builder sentiment index in March decreased one point to 45, worse than the average market expectation of 49, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).
It was the fourth consecutive month that the reading was below 50, indicating that more builders viewed sales conditions as poor rather than favorable.
"After four months in which the HMI has shown little signs of fluctuation, it is clear that builder sentiment is becoming more in line with the market reality of a continuing but modest recovery," said the NAHB chairman Kevin Kelly said in a statement.
The component gauging current sales conditions fell two points to 48 in May, and the component gauging sales expectations in the next six months rose one point to 57, while the component measuring buyer traffic increased two points to 33.
"Builders are waiting for consumers to feel more secure about their financial situation," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "Once job growth becomes more consistent, consumers will return to the market in larger numbers and that will boost builder confidence."
The U.S. housing market has showed signs of slowdown since the second half of last year, as sharp increases in home prices and limited inventories, as well as higher mortgage rates have discouraged many home buyers.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑） |