Homebuilder confidence in the U.S. continued to improve in the month of September, according to a report released by the National Association of Home Builders on Wednesday, with the housing market index reaching a nearly ten-year high.
The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index crept up to 62 in September from 61 in August, while economists had expected the index to come in unchanged.
With the unexpected uptick, the housing market index reached its highest level since hitting 68 in October of 2005.
"The HMI shows that single-family housing is making solid progress," said NAHB Chairman Tom Woods, a home builder from Blue Springs, Missouri.
He added, "However, our members continue to tell us that they are concerned about the availability of lots and labor."
The modest increase by the housing market index reflected gains by two of the three components that make up the index.
The component gauging current sales conditions edged up to 67 in September from 66 in August, while the index measuring buyer traffic rose to 47 from 45.
On the other hand, the NAHB said the index charting sales expectations in the next six months dipped to 68 in September from 70 in August.
The Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new residential construction in the month of August on Thursday.
Economists expect housing starts to pull back to an annual rate of 1.168 million in August after reaching a nearly eight-year high of 1.206 million in July.
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