US homebuilder sentiment drops to lowest level since end of 2022

Confidence among US homebuilders fell to the lowest level since December 2022 in June, with potential buyers deterred by high mortgage rates and anxiety about tariffs and the economy. 

A gauge of market conditions from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo slipped 2 points to 32 this month. Economists expected 36 in a Bloomberg survey.

All three of the overall index’s components declined, with a measure of present sales falling to the lowest level since 2012. Gauges of traffic of prospective buyers and expected sales over the next six months are both at the lowest point in more than a year, NAHB data show.

The trade association is forecasting a decline in single-family starts this year, given weakening conditions, NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said in a prepared…