Home Builder Confidence up in New Jersey for February

According to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today, builder confidence rose two points to 17 in February as favorable home buying conditions and signs of healing in the job market surfaced, the highest level since November, 2009.

"Builders are just beginning to see the anticipated effects of the home buyer tax credit on consumer demand," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "Meanwhile, another source of encouragement is the improving employment market, which is key to any sustainable economic or housing recovery. That said, several limiting factors are still weighing down builder expectations, including the large number of foreclosed homes on the market, the lack of available credit for new and existing projects, and inappropriately low appraisals tied to the use of distressed properties as comps."

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for more than 20 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as "good," "fair" or "poor." The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as "high to very high," "average" or "low to very low." Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

Our weather hasn't been very favorable to thinking of breaking ground for a new home, but remember - your 1st Time Buyer Tax Credit and Return Buyer Tax Credit are good on new construction in Mercer County.  You need to be under contract by April 30, so contact me soon to look at some ideas for new homes in Hamilton and West Windsor areas.

Here is a Hamilton new home development with 5 lots left:  Dogwood Meadows.  The developer is offering a free finished basement - a $25,800 value - to qualified buyers.  That's a great deal!

Joe Giancarli Realtor
609-658-2612
jgiancarli@remax.net
http://www.joegiancarli.com/
http://www.njhomesource.net/
http://www.njhomesource.blogspot.com/