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Higher Mortgage Rates Hammer US Builder Confidence in May
With mortgage rates averaging above 7% for the past four weeks per data from Freddie Mac, builder sentiment posted its first decline since November 2023. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was 45 in May, down six points from April, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. “The market has slowed down since mortgage rates increased and this has pushed many potential buyers back to the sidelines,” said NAHB Chairman Carl Harris, a custom home builder from Wichita, Kan. “We are also concerned about the ... (full story)