por admin » Lun Dic 18, 2017 10:12 am
La confianza de los constructores en su nivel más alto en 18 años.
Homebuilder confidence hits highest level in 18 years in December
This is the highest reading since 1999.
Builders now see the business incentives in the GOP tax plan as outweighing other negatives.
Diana Olick | @DianaOlick
Published 11 Mins Ago Updated 3 Mins Ago
CNBC.com
Housing starts construction
Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Confidence among the nation's homebuilders jumped unexpectedly in December on expectations of a stronger economy. A monthly reading of homebuilder sentiment rose five points to 74. This is the highest reading since 1999.
Fifty is the line between positive and negative sentiment on the National Association of Home Builders' index. November's reading was revised lower by one point.
Sentiment stood at 69 in December of 2016.
"Housing market conditions are improving partially because of new policies aimed at providing regulatory relief to the business community," said NAHB Chairman Granger MacDonald, a home builder and developer from Kerrville, Texas.
Homebuilders had been vehemently opposed to the Republican tax plan, which is set for a final vote in Congress this week. Changes to both the mortgage interest deduction and property tax deductions were seen as removing some of the benefits of home ownership. Apparently, builders now see the business incentives in the plan as outweighing those other negatives.
Of the index's three components, buyer traffic jumped eight points to 58. Current sales conditions rose four points to 81. Sales expectations in the next six months increased three points to 79.
A worker carries lumber as he builds a new home in Petaluma, California.
Buyer traffic is likely increasing so much because of the severe shortage of existing homes for sale. Realtors are reporting the lowest supply on record and are not expecting the situation to improve anytime soon. While housing starts did rise steadily throughout 2017, they did so very moderately and are still not close to historically normal levels of production.
"With low unemployment rates, favorable demographics and a tight supply of existing home inventory, we can expect continued upward movement of the single-family construction sector next year," said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.
Regionally, on a three-month moving averages, builder sentiment in the Midwest increased six points to 69, in the South it rose three points to 72. In the West sentiment increased two points to 79 and in the Northeast it rose one point to 54.