Builder sentiment still muddy

The November NAHB home builder sentiment index rose 1 pt m/o/m to 38. The consensus was for an unchanged print but it still remains well below 50. After popping by 9 pts in October, the Future outlook slipped by 3 pts to 51 with hopes that lower mortgage rates will drive activity. The Present Situation though while up 2 pts to 41 and the best since April, is still 9 pts below 50. The Prospective Buyers Traffic remains depressed at 26, though up 1 pt m/o/m.

Lower mortgage rates of course didn’t help much and the NAHB said “Market uncertainty exacerbated by the government shutdown along with economic uncertainty stemming from tariffs and rising construction costs kept builder confidence firmly in negative territory in November.”