The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released its housing market index for the U.S. on Monday. The NAHB housing market index declined to 53 in March from 55 in February. It was the third consecutive decline.

Analysts had expected the index to rise at 57.

A level above 50.0 is considered positive, below indicates a negative outlook.

The NAHB Chairman, Tom Woods, said that the NAHB expects the index to improve in the spring buying season.

The NAHB Chief Economist, David Crowe noted that "the drop in builder confidence is largely attributable to supply chain issues, such as lot and labor shortages as well as tight underwriting standards".