WASHINGTON - Confidence among homebuilders improved in July from a nine-month low as executives turned less pessimistic on the outlook for sales.
Homebuilder sentiment shows some signs of life
July 19, 2011 at 2:53AM
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index climbed to 15 this month, higher than forecast, from 13 in June, data from the Washington-based group showed Monday. The median projection of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a gain to 14.
"Building activity is unlikely to get much worse from here," said Russell Price, a senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. in Detroit. At the same time, "after four years of correction, high unemployment and tight credit conditions, there are still significant impediments," he said.
Readings lower than 50 in Monday's homebuilder measure mean more respondents said conditions were poor. Projections among the 36 economists surveyed ranged from 12 to 16.
The gauge reached a record low of 8 in January 2009, and averaged 54 in the five years before the recession.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
about the writer
The county’s program has wide support to help clean up nitrate pollution in southeast Minnesota, but questions remain over how it gets funded.
