US Homebuilder Confidence Declines for First Time in Six Months

  • NAHB says a lack of inflation progress is drag on industry
  • Six-month sales outlook falls by most since October 2022

Contractors frame walls on a house in Folsom, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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US homebuilder sentiment declined in May for the first time in six months as mortgage rates above 7% kept buyers on the sidelines and weighed on expectations.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of housing market conditions fell by 6 points to 45 in May, the lowest level since the start of the year. This month’s reading trailed all economists’ estimates in a Bloomberg survey, which had a median forecast of 50.