NAHB homebuilder sentiment falls to 29 in October, lowest since June 2012
What happened
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell 3 points to 29 in October, the lowest since June 2012, per the survey released Monday, October 19. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a dip to 31 (the week-ahead bar), and Dow Jones consensus was also 31. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 7.40% last week, the highest in nearly three years, per Freddie Mac data cited by Reuters. Buyer-traffic and future-sales-expectations sub-indexes each fell 5 points, to 18 and 32 respectively. 43% of builders cut prices in October — the highest share since 2020 — with the average cut at 6% for a seventh straight month, and just under two-thirds used sales incentives, above 60% for a 19th straight month.
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