NAHB home-builder index drops 3 points in April (by Steve Goldstein)
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Home-builder sentiment dropped in April for the first time in seven months, as growing traffic at new-build sites hasn't yet led to sales. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index dropped 3 points to a seasonally adjusted 25 in April - on a scale of 0 to 100. Economists polled by MarketWatch had anticipated a steady reading of 28. The index hasn't been in "good" territory, or at 50, since Apr. 2006. Each of the components fell in April. The components measuring current sales conditions and sales expectations in the next six months dropped 3 points, while the traffic measuring prospective buyer traffic fell 4 points.