Homebuilders in the United States aren’t being turned off by higher prices and longer waits. With demand continuing to rise, homebuilder confidence was higher than predicted in November. It reached its highest level since May last year. 

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, (HMI) saw confidence rise 3 points to 83. Positive is anything above 50. Analysts expected it to stay at 80. In November 2020, sentiment was at 90.

Chuck Fowke (a Tampa-based homebuilder), said that “the solid market for building homes continued to grow in November, despite continuing supply-side challenges.” Strong consumer demand, combined with a low resale stock keeps single-family homebuilding booming.”

The current sales conditions are up 3 points to 89 among the three index components. Also, buyer traffic increased 3 percentage points to 68. The sales expectations for the next six-months were stable at 84. 

Although buyers may be plentiful, many of the parts that go into building your home aren’t. This has caused some builders to become the biggest in America. DR HortonTo ensure that they are able to deliver on their promises, it is necessary to slow down sales.

Donald Horton, the chairman of the company, stated that the company has continued to restrict home sales by selling houses later in construction cycles in order to match our production levels and ensure home buyers have certainty about closing dates. 

The supply chain is still disrupted and there’s a severe labor shortage for builders. They also have difficulty finding enough land where they can build.  

Robert Dietz of NAHB, Chief Economist for Construction said that the availability of lots is low and that there are more than 330,000 jobs in construction. He called upon policymakers to address these issues.

The sentiment indexes in the Midwest and South rose by 4 and 8 points respectively, respectively, on a 3-month average HMI score. The West saw a one-point increase to 84 while the Northeast experienced a two-point decline to 70.