New Home Construction Starts Slow as Builders’ Confidence Shrinks
The impact of plummeting buyer interest, cancelled contracts, inflation and continuing labor shortages showed again in the National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index (HMI) for July, its seventh month in decline. Builders are cautious about getting caught with excess inventory (at its highest since 2010) in a recessionary climate, leaving analysts to speculate about the affordability crisis and that “continued underbuilding will help keep prices elevated.”