Chicago, IL (PRWEB) January 20, 2014 -- CF Funding is disheartened to share that builder sentiment has fallen by one point to a score of 56 this month, after a big increase of four points in December. This information was released today by the National Association of Home Builders, per the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) on January 16th.
Although the score went down slightly, it is good to see that it remains above 50. Any score of 50 or higher means that more builders than not feel confident about our present and future housing market conditions. This is the eighth straight month that the score has been above 50—a great sign for the housing industry.
Experts at the NAHB feel confident about housing in the coming year. “Rising home prices, historically low mortgage rates and significant pent-up demand will drive a continuing, gradual recovery in the year ahead,” according to NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “However, the pace of the recovery could be stronger were it not for rising construction costs and inaccurate appraisals that are keeping some home sales from going through.”
The survey uses three factors to calculate a score: traffic of prospective buyers, current sales conditions, and future sales expectations. The prospective buyers index fell 3 points, expectations for future sales fell 2 points, and current sales condition fell 1 point this month.
The highest builder sentiment score of the past 12 months was 58, as we saw in August 2013. The lowest score of the past 12 months was 41, in April 2013. When put into perspective in comparison with the scores we saw during the housing crash (an average score of 15 in 2009), the sentiment score looks very good.
In other mortgage news today, Freddie Mac announced that the average 30-year fixed loan rate has decreased to 4.41%, in comparison to last week’s 4.51%. 15-year fixed rate loan rates also decreased this week to 3.45%, from an average rate of 3.56% last week. The Mortgage Rates Survey is collected from Monday through Wednesday from about 125 lenders across the country—a mix of thrifts, credit unions, commercial banks, and mortgage lending companies.
If you are considering applying for a home loan or a refinance, act now to take advantage of these low rates. The loan specialists at CF Funding can help you determine which options are best for your credit needs.
Contact CF Funding via phone, or log on for live chat at http://www.cffunding.com, or email the lender at: contact(at)cffunding(dot)com for more information.
Giorgio U Ferrero, CF Funding, +1 (847) 338-6062, [email protected]
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