U.S. Home-Builder Sentiment Still Muted by Affordability Concerns

By Dean Seal

Confidence among U.S. home builders barely picked up in August as high mortgage rates, rising construction costs and economic uncertainty continue to hang over the housing market.

Here are the main takeaways from the National Association of Home Builders' latest report released Monday:

--The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, a gauge of builder confidence in the market for newly built single family housing, inched up to 35 in August from 34 in July. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected the reading to drop by a point to 33.

--A reading below 50 means builder perceptions of current sales and sales expectations are net negative. Sentiment has remained below a reading of 40 for 16 consecutive months now, NAHB said.

--August also is the 16th consecutive month in which at least 30% of builders reported cutting prices to support demand, said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.

--Custom home builders are reporting stronger market conditions than spec builders, reflecting better conditions in the higher end of the market. Smaller markets are outperforming larger metropolitan ones.

--The latest HMI survey also revealed that 35% of builders cut prices in August, down slightly from July and flat with June. The average price reduction was the same rate as the previous month. Meanwhile, the HMI index gauging sales conditions rose slightly and the indexes for future sales and prospective buyer traffic held steady.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 17, 2026 10:21 ET (14:21 GMT)