US April NAHB housing market index 69 vs 70 expected

March index came in at 70.

• The April NAHB housing market index came in at 69 vs 70 expected.
• Prior month was 70
• THe single-family home sales Index fell to 75 versus 77 in March
• prospective buyers came in at 51 unchanged from the March level
• Over the next 6 months 77 versus 78 and March
• A reading above 50 is considered positive.

Although lower, the index remains positive and nearer to high levels.

The HMI is a weighted average of separate diffusion indices for these three key single-family series. The first two series are rated on a scale of Good, Fair and Poor and the last is rated on a scale of High/Very High, Average, and Low/Very Low. A diffusion index is calculated for each series by applying the formula "(Good-Poor+100)/2" to the present and future sales series and "(High/Very High - Low/Very Low + 100)/2" to the traffic series. Each resulting index is then seasonally adjusted and weighted to produce the HMI.Based on this calculation, the HMI can range between 0 and 100.