U.S. home builder mood dips, but up in West - New Mexico Business Weekly:

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The / Housing Market Indec declined one point to 15 in but rose two pointds in the Western regionto 14. “Thed outlook for home sales has improvesd somewhat inrecent months, due largely to implementatiob of the first-time home buyer tax credit and gainsa in housing affordability,” said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Okla. “However, looking forward, home builders are facing a few including expiration of the tax credit at the end of a recent upturn ininteresg rates; and especially the continuing lack of credit for housing productiom loans.
” Two out of three of the HMI’zs component indexes were unchanged in including the index gaugingh current home sales, which held at 14, and the index gaugint traffic of prospective buyers, which held at 13. the index gauging expectations for the next six montha declined asingle point, to 26. The national declinr was driven entirely focused by builders in the which isthe nation’s largest housing There, the HMI declined 3 points to 15, whiler the rest of the regions poster gains. In addition to the gain in the the Northeast hada one-point gain to 20 and the Midwestr showed a one-point gain to 15.