American homebuilders have grown more pessimistic about the state of the housing market over the past six months due to increasing interest rates, with sentiment falling to their lowest level since June 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
Mortgage demand throughout the country has fallen to less than half of what it was a year ago, as rising inflation and higher mortgage rates have slowed the traffic of prospective home buyers and put a damper on builder sentiment.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released on June 15, fell 2 points to 67 in June, but still in the plus 50 range….