US homebuilder confidence plunges amid coronavirus pandemic

U.S. homebuilder confidence plunged a record amount this month as the coronavirus pandemic devastates the economy.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index dropped 58 percent from March to a score of 30 this month, the association reported Wednesday.

Any score over 50 indicates that more builders view market conditions as good than poor, the release said.

Homebuilder confidence had climbed across the country last year amid a then-strong economy, and sales volume surged to the fastest pace in years at the start of 2020 before the pandemic hit, the association reported.

But in the past month, businesses have closed en masse across the U.S., often on government orders, to contain the virus’s spread, resulting in soaring job losses.

The 42-point plunge in confidence was the largest monthly change in the history of the index, producing the lowest confidence reading since mid-2012, the association said.

The survey, which focused on the market for newly built single-family houses, was conducted April 1-13.

NAHB Chairman Dean Mon, a New Jersey developer, said in a statement that the “unprecedented drop in builder confidence is due exclusively to the coronavirus outbreak,” adding that unemployment has “skyrocketed” and supply chain gaps have “hampered” construction.

Before the pandemic, U.S. builders sold homes in January and February at the fastest pace since the Great Recession, NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz said in the release.

In Southern Nevada, builders’ pipeline of sales shrank last month as the valley rapidly shut down to contain the virus’s spread and as job losses statewide shot up to record levels.

Builders signed 143 sales contracts and had 51 sales cancellations in the week ending March 29, compared with 357 sales and 28 canceled deals in the week ending March 8, according to Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research.

Nearly 92,300 initial unemployment insurance claims were filed in Nevada for the week ending March 21, up more than 1,350 percent from the prior week and by far the most ever.

The previous weekly record was 8,945 claims in January 2009 after the housing bubble had burst, the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.