US builder confidence ticks up to 5-year high

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER

WASHINGTON (AP) - Confidence among U.S. builders ticked up this month to a five-year high, an indication that the housing market is slowly improving.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index rose in June to 29, the highest reading since May 2007. It increased from a reading of 28 last month, which was revised down one point from its initial figure.

The index, which was released Monday, has risen in seven of the past nine months, suggesting builders are starting to see the seeds of a recovery taking shape after years of stagnation.

Yet, the market has a long way to go. Any reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the housing market. The index hasn't reached that level since April 2006, the peak of the housing boom.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120618/D9VFM3E00.html

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In this Friday, June 1, 2012, photo, Troy Drake hammers a shingle onto the roof of a new house under construction in the Patrick Farms community in Pearl, Miss. Confidence among U.S. builders ticked up in June to a five-year high, an indication that the housing market is slowly improving. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

[MrSlayer]

1. And yet here I am with no construction job for a year.

And suffering terribly because of it. I'm glad they're feeling good.

[jtuck004]

2. It could also be an indication that there are less builders, and the ones that are left are building

apartments.

And that ain't positive.