WASHINGTON - Builder confidence in the market for newly-built, single-family homes grew 1 point to 47 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

"A number of factors are raising builder concerns over meeting demand for the spring buying season," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "These include a shortage of buildable lots and skilled workers, rising materials prices and an extremely low inventory of new homes for sale."

The index's components were varied in March. The section evaluating current sales environment gained 1 point to 52, and the part measuring buyer traffic improved 2 points to 33. The section measuring sales prospects in the next six months fell 1 point to 53. The three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores all dropped in March. The Northeast decreased 3 points to 35, the Midwest declined 3 points to 53, the South fell 4 points to 49 and the West dropped 2 points to 61.

The HMI rates builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales prospects for the next six months as "good," "fair" or "poor." In addition, the survey asks builders to rank traffic of potential buyers as "high to very high," "average" or "low to very low." Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index with any number greater than 50 designating that more builders view conditions as good than poor.