WASHINGTON -- Indicating that builders continue to view the market for new single-family homes as stable and healthy, the National Association of Home Builders' Housing Market Index (HMI) for June remained unchanged from a revised 60 reading in the previous month. The HMI has held within three points of this strong reading since the beginning of the year.
"The favorable interest rate environment, in which rates on long-term mortgages recently have been hovering around 6.7 percent, is encouraging many prospective home-buyers to take the plunge," said NAHB President Gary Garczynski, a builder/developer from Woodbridge, Va.