After an initial post-election surge which took homebuilder sentiment to its highest levels in over a decade, we’ve seen a bit of a dip in sentiment over the last two months.  In this morning’s report from the NAHB for the month of February, sentiment dropped from last month’s level of 67 (and the consensus expectation for this month) down to 65.  Looking at the long-term chart, however, the upward trend in sentiment remains intact.

The table to the right breaks down this month’s report by present and future sales, traffic, and regions.  Overall, sentiment weakened across the board with Traffic falling back below pre-election levels.  On a regional basis, sentiment in the West was unchanged, the Midwest and South saw modest declines, but in the Northeast sentiment really plummeted, falling from 51 down to 41 for its lowest reading since last July.