US homebuilder confidence falls for eighth month in a row in August, NAHB says

The National Association of Homebuilders' housing market index fell from a reading of 55 for July to 49.

Economists had anticipated that the index would be unchanged from the month before.

That was also the first time that the index had fallen below the key break-even level of 50.0 since May 2020, NAHB said.

"Ongoing growth in construction costs and high mortgage rates continue to weaken market sentiment for single-family home builders," said NAHB Chairman, Jerry Konter.

"And in a troubling sign that consumers are now sitting on the sidelines due to higher housing costs, the August buyer traffic number in our builder survey was 32, the lowest level since April 2014 with the exception of the spring of 2020 when the pandemic first hit."