The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for May 2026. The HMI is based on a monthly survey of single-family builders who are asked to rate three specific conditions of the housing market: present sales of new single-family homes, expected sales of single-family homes for the next six months and traffic of prospective buyers of new single-family homes. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes increased three points to 37 in May.
The survey revealed that 32% of builders cut prices in May, down from 36% in April. However, the use of sale incentives was up 61% in May, a slight increase from 60% in April.
Key factors that can impact the HMI include interest rates, employment rates, material costs and inflationary pressures.
