US: NAHB Builder Confidence improves to 58 in January vs. 56 expected

"Buoyed by falling mortgage rates, builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose two points to 58 in January," the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported on Wednesday.

Key takeaways from the press release

• The gradual decline in mortgage rates in recent weeks helped to sustain builder sentiment.
• Low unemployment, solid job growth and favorable demographics should support housing demand in the coming months.
• The index measuring current sales conditions rose two points to 63, the component gauging expectations in the next six months increased three points to 64 and the metric charting buyer traffic edged up one point to 44.