Business Contact Surveys: Construction and Real Estate
November 2013
Southeast residential brokers and builders reported that sales remained ahead of the year-earlier level in September but growth continued to moderate.
Brokers continued to report that home inventory levels were below the year-earlier level across most of the Southeast. Reports from builders were mixed.
Both builders and brokers continued to report home price gains in September. However, brokers indicated the strength of home price appreciation appears to be moderating somewhat.
Both builders and brokers reported a sharp drop in buyer traffic from year-earlier levels.
The outlook among respondents remained positive in September. Builders' outlook for sales growth over the next several months was stronger than a year earlier, while the brokers' outlook was slightly weaker.
Most Southeast builders reported that construction activity was slightly ahead of year-earlier levels in September.
Note: The poll results are based on responses from 53 residential brokers and 25 homebuilders and were collected October 7–16, 2013.
The housing survey's diffusion indexes are calculated as the percentage of total respondents reporting increases minus the percentage reporting declines. Positive values in the index indicate increased activity; negative values indicate decreased activity.