Dive Brief:

• Homebuilder confidence in the single-family market continued its steady rise in September, increasing one point to a mark of 62, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released Wednesday.
• The September confidence bump, which followed a one-point rise in August, is at its highest level since November 2005.
• The index rose for the fourth-straight month. Any score higher than 50 signals that more builders than not have a positive outlook for the housing market's next six months.

Dive Insight:

NAHB Chairman Tom Woods said the steady rise in confidence "shows that single-family housing is making solid progress." He cautioned, however, that builders continue to struggle with the lack of qualified labor and difficulty securing lots for new home construction. 

Within the individual factors in the index, confidence regarding buyer traffic rose two points in September, current sales conditions rose one point, and sales expectations for the next six months fell two points.

That dip in optimism for future sales could be due to labor and lot shortages, as well as the looming Federal Reserve interest rate hike.

Still, the NAHB said the September report coincides with its forecast of approximately 1.1 million housing starts in 2015. "Barring any unexpected jolts, we expect housing to keep moving forward at a steady, modest rate through the end of the year," NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe said. 

Builder confidence has been in positive territory for more than a year, following five months of negative levels in early 2014.