by Calculated Risk on 8/09/2012 09:24:00 PM

This is a quarterly index from the the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and is similar to the overall housing market index (HMI). The NAHB started this index in Q4 2008, so all readings are very low. This is expected to be key a demographic over the next couple of decades - if the baby boomers can sell their current homes.

From the NAHB: Builder Confidence in the 55+ Housing Market Shows Improvement in the Second Quarter

Builder confidence in the 55+ housing market for single-family homes showed improvement in the second quarter of 2012 compared to the same period a year ago, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) latest 55+ Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. The index more than doubled year over year from a level of 13 to 29, which is the highest second-quarter reading since the inception of the index in 2008.

The 55+ single-family HMI measures builder sentiment based on a survey that asks if current sales, prospective buyer traffic and anticipated six-month sales for that market are good, fair or poor (high, average or low for traffic). An index number below 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as poor than good. Although all index components remain below 50, they increased considerably from a year ago: Present sales more than doubled (from 12 to 30), while expected sales for the next six months increased 17 points to 35 and traffic of prospective buyers rose nine points to 22.
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“We are seeing buyers slowly return to the 55+ housing market as home prices begin to improve” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “This helps unlock some of the pent-up demand from 55+ consumers who have been sitting on the sidelines until they are able to sell their current homes at a reasonable price.”

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the NAHB 55+ HMI through Q2 2012. All of the readings are very low for this index, but there has been a fairly sharp increase over the last three quarters.