Developers, Builders of 55+ Housing segment remain confident

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) 55+ Housing Market Index (HMI) which was released this week show that U.S. builder confidence in the single-family 55+ housing market continued to be positive in the third quarter of 2017. While the index measuring builder confidence in the single-family 55+ market dropped from a reading of 66 in the second quarter to 59 this quarter, it's the 14th quarter in a row in which the reading was above 50, the break-even point at which more respondents see conditions as good than poor. "The effects of destructive hurricanes and a series of wildfires earlier this fall are likely reflected in this quarter's survey, which was conducted at the end of September," said Dennis Cunningham, chairman of NAHB's 55+ Housing Industry Council and president of ActiveWest Builders in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  "However, this is a temporary effect. Overall confidence remains high and builders continue to be optimistic about the 55+ market in the long run." There are separate 55+ HMIs for two segments of the 55+ housing market: single-family homes and multifamily condominiums. Each 55+ HMI measures builder sentiment based on a survey that asks if current sales, prospective buyer traffic and anticipated six-month sales for that market are good, fair or poor (high, average or low for traffic). When compared to the previous quarter, among the three single-family components of the 55+ HMI, present sales dropped from 70 to 65, sales expected in the next six months from 80 to 63 and traffic of prospective buyers from 53 to 44. Meanwhile, the 55+ multifamily condo HMI slipped slightly from 53 to 51. Of the three 55+ condo HMI components, present sales edged down from 56 to 55, sales expected in the next six months stayed the same at 55 and traffic dipped from 45 to 40.