Builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes remained unchanged at a solid 67 reading in September on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

"Despite rising affordability concerns, builders continue to report firm demand for housing, especially as millennials and other newcomers enter the market," said NAHB Chairman Randy Noel, a custom home builder from LaPlace, La. "The recent decline in lumber prices from record-high levels earlier this summer is also welcome relief, although builders still need to manage construction costs to keep homes competitively priced.