Home builders remain pessimistic about a recovery in the housing market and sales of new homes, according to a September survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo & Co. and released Monday.
"In general, builders haven't seen any reason for improved optimism in market conditions over the past month," said NAHB chief economist David Crowe.
During the housing boom, the NAHB/Wells Fargo index hit a high of 72 in 2005. It fell to a low of 8 in June 2009 following the bust, and hasn't scored much higher since.
The index shows the new-home market "remains stuck in the doldrums," said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst at Weiss Research.
Lennar Corp.'s president and chief executive officer, Stuart Miller, told investors and analysts Monday that he remains cautious about the immediate future.
"It has become clear the recovery in the housing market will continue to be a rocky and sloppy stabilization process that will ultimately give way to an improvement in the market. But the timing and degree of improvement remain uncertain," Miller said.
Nevertheless, the Miami builder reported another profitable quarter and the CEO said he expects the company to remain in the black.
Lennar said sales of new homes were basically unchanged at 2,909 units in its third fiscal quarter, which ended Aug. 31, compared with the previous quarter. However, new orders fell 18%.
