US: NAHB survey falls first time since September

In the US, the NAHB housing market index fell from a downwardly revised 39 in February to 36 in March. It was the first fall since September last year and indicates that the woes in the housing market are not over yet. According to the NAHB are builders uncertain about the consequences of tightening mortgage lending standards for their home sales activity. The NAHB continues to forecast a modest improvement in home sales during 2007, but admitted that the problems in the housing market increase the degree of uncertainty surrounding this forecast.