Housing market index rises in November

The National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index rose to 65 in November, up two points from October and the highest level since February of this year, according to a release from the NAHB.

"The November housing market index shows continued strength in the housing market and reflects a positive interest rate climate," said home builder and NAHBMitchell.

"Mortgage interest rates peaked in May and are now holding steady below 8 percent. Reflecting this trend, as well as stable, healthy conditions throughout the economy, the (housing market index) has been increasing since June," he added.

The housing market index is derived from a monthly survey of builders that NAHB has been conducting for almost 20 years.

Homebuilders are asked to rate current sales of single-family homes and sales expectations for the next six months as "good," "fair" or "poor."

They also are asked to rate the traffic of prospective buyers as either "high to very high," "average," or "low to very low."

Scores for responses to each component are used to calculate a seasonally adjusted overall index in which any number over 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

The index for current sales of single-family homes rose three points to 72 in November, while the index for expected single-family sales remained unchanged at 72 for the third consecutive month.

The index for traffic of prospective buyers remained unchanged at 46.