Things are looking bright. The steadily improving US housing market is affecting home-builder sentiment in a positive way. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released a statement last July 16, 2015 saying builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes hit a level of 60 on the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). For reference, a reading over 50 means that most builders generally see conditions as positive. The reading for June was upward one point to 60 as well. This bodes well for the market since the last time the HMI reached this level was way back in November 2005.

NAHB Chairman Tom Woods said, “The fact that builder confidence has returned to levels not seen since 2005 shows that housing continues to improve at a steady pace.” Woods further added that as we head into the second half of 2015, we should expect a continued recovery of the housing market.

Stronger sales and continued job growth, these are two of the reasons for the extremely positive outlook of US homebuilders. According to NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe, despite this, builders still face a number of challenges including shortages of lots and labor.

Recovery is continuous process however. “This month’s new-home sales report is consistent with other government data and rising builder confidence that indicate a continual recovery of the housing market,” added Crowe. “The uptick in existing-home sales bodes well for builders, as it shows that the sellers are able to buy a new home.”

The market is looking bright and the industry is very optimistic. The question now is, what are your plans on how to ride this wave?

Notes: The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index is strictly the product of NAHB Economics, and is not seen or influenced by any outside party prior to being released to the public. HMI tables can be found at nahb.org/hmi. More information on housing statistics is also available at housingeconomics.com.