Housing Market Index Beats Expectations

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Market Index was just released, showing a reading of 58, beating the consensus estimate of 55. The index is based on a survey of the general economy and housing market conditions. The housing market index is a weighted average of 3 different indexes: present sales of new homes, sale of new homes expected in the next six months, and traffic of prospective buyers in new homes. A reading above 50 is considered positive. All three components of the Housing Market Index saw gains, with present sales up five points to 62, expected sales rising two points to 66 and traffic increasing four points to 45. Shares of the Homebuilders ETF

popped on the news, moving from 32.28 to the daily high of 32.39 following the release.