A report released by the National Association of Home Builders on Thursday showed a modest improvement in homebuilder confidence in the U.S. in the month of July.
The report said the NAHB/ Wells Fargo Housing Market Index inched up to 33 in July after slipping to 32 in June. The uptick matched economist estimates.
The modest increase by the headline index came as the component measuring sales expectations in the next six months rose to 43 in July from 40 in June.
The index gauging current sales conditions also crept up to 36 in July from 35 in June, but the gauge charting traffic of prospective buyers edged down to 20 in July from 21 in June, hitting its lowest reading since the end of 2022.
The report also said 38 percent of builders reported cutting prices in July, the highest percentage since NAHB began tracking this figure on a monthly basis in 2022.
Meanwhile, the average price reduction was 5 percent in July, the same as it's been every month since last November, the NAHB said.