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    Analysis

    NAHB: Builder Confidence Reaches Lowest Mark in a Decade

    Written by David Schollaert


    Builder confidence fell for the tenth straight month in October, while traffic of prospective buyers fell to its lowest level since 2012 (excluding the two-month period at the onset of the pandemic), the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said.

    The report, in conjunction with the Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), said that rising interest rates, building material bottlenecks, and elevated home prices continue to weaken the housing market.

    David Schollaert

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    SMU Survey: Current Buyers’ Sentiment rises slightly as Future Sentiment dips

    SMU’s Current Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Index ticked up slightly this week, while Future Sentiment fell, according to our latest market survey. Every two weeks, SMU polls thousands of steel-industry executives, asking them to rate their companies’ chances of success today and also three to six months down the road. We use their responses to calculate our proprietary Current and Future Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices, measures tracked since 2008.

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    SMU Survey: Mill willingness to negotiate price at lowest levels since 2021

    The majority of steel buyers responding to our latest market survey reported that mills continue to hold a firm grip on prices. The share of buyers reporting that mills were negotiable fell this week to the lowest rate seen in over five years. Every two weeks, SMU surveys service center and manufacturer buyers asking if mills are negotiable on new spot sheet and plate orders. In this week’s survey, just 3% of respondents said mills were willing to talk price to secure an order (Figure 1). This is down 11 percentage points from our mid-October survey.