NAHB National Association of Home Builders : Optimistic Consumer Confidence in January

The Conference Board released the Consumer Confidence Index for January 2016. The Consumer Confidence Index rose slightly to 98.1 in January. The present situation index in January was unchanged, remaining at the same level of 116.4 as that in December; the expectations index rose to 85.9 in January from 83.0 in December.

In January, consumers' optimism about the short-term outlook improved. In January, 16.2% of respondents reported that they expected business conditions will improve over the next six months, more than the 14.5% in December. Also, 13.2% of respondents expected that there will be more jobs over the next six months. Moreover, compared with last month, the shares of respondents expecting an increase in income over the next six months increased by 1.8% to 18.1%.

The Conference Board also reported the shares of respondents planning to buy a home within six months. The shares of respondents planning to buy a lived-in home within six months fell to 3.5% in January, from 3.9% in December. The share of respondents planning to buy a new home within six months declined to 0.7% in January, from 1.6% in December.

Overall, despite the monthly volatility, the trends in the shares of respondents planning to buy a new home and the shares of respondents planning to buy a lived-in home within six months are climbing up from the trough and consumer confidence has been moving up toward the pre-recession level since 2010.

Tags: consumer confidence, plan to buy a home, the conference board