Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose for a second consecutive month in May to its highest point since August 2007. The Housing Market Index (HMI) gained three points to 22 in May. NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe says: "The really encouraging part of today’s HMI is that sales expectations for the next six months continued to gain, despite the expiration of the home buyer tax credits at the end of April....This means builders are more comfortable that the market is truly beginning to recover, and that positive factors for buying a new home – low interest rates, great selection, stabilizing prices, and a recovering job market – are taking the place of tax incentives to generate buyer demand.”
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