by Calculated Risk on 4/18/2011 10:00:00 AM

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reports the housing market index (HMI) declined slightly to 16 in April from 17 in March. This was below expectations for a reading of 17. Confidence remains very low ... any number under 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as poor than good.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This graph compares the NAHB HMI (left scale) with single family housing starts (right scale). This includes the April release for the HMI and the February data for starts (March housing starts will be released tomorrow).

Both confidence and housing starts have been moving sideways at a very depressed level for several years.

Press release from the NAHB: Builder Confidence Slips Back a Notch in April

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes slipped back one notch to 16 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for April, released today. The index has now held at 16 for five of the last six months
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“The spring home buying season is getting off to a slow start due to persistent concerns about home values as more foreclosures seem to be hitting the market, increasingly restrictive lending requirements for home buyers and builders, and the slow pace of economic recovery,” acknowledged NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “While pockets of improving activity are appearing in some markets, the best sales activity appears to be happening in the lower price ranges, where first-time buyers have greater flexibility than repeat buyers who must sell their current home"
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Two out of three of the HMI’s component indexes posted declines in April. While the component gauging current sales conditions fell one point to 16, the component gauging sales expectations for the next six months declined three points to 23, its lowest mark since October of 2010. However, the index gauging traffic of prospective buyers rose a single point to 13 in April, marking its highest level since last June.

Builders are still depressed, and the HMI has been below 25 for forty-six consecutive months - almost 4 years.