U.S. home builder confidence rose for a third straight month in August to match its highest level ever as record-low interest rates spur buyer traffic, data released showed showed in the latest indication the housing market is a rare bright spot in the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, however, a growing number of home owners are falling behind on their mortgages with tens of millions still out of work and growing signs that the labor market recovery is softening, Reuters reported. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose 6 points to 78, matching a series record set in 1998. But even as home builder confidence surges, more homeowners affected by the crisis have stopped paying their mortgages, a separate report showed. The delinquency rate for residential mortgages rose to 8.2 percent in the second quarter, up nearly 4 percentage points from the first quarter and the largest quarterly increase on record, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, a program used by many first-time buyers and those with lower incomes, saw their delinquency rate jump to almost 16 percent — the highest since the survey began more than four decades ago.
