WASHINGTON -- Indicating that favorable financing conditions are helping stabilize the nation's single-family housing market, the National Association of Home Builders' Housing Market Index (HMI) rebounded three points to 58 in February from an upwardly revised 55 reading in the previous month.
"February's HMI recovered the ground it lost in January, though the reading is still below what it was throughout much of 2000," said Bruce Smith, NAHB president. "Home builders see recent declines in interest rates on home mortgages as a positive factor helping to offset weakness in some parts of the economy."