WASHINGTON — With the expiration date for an important home buyer incentive approaching, builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes slipped one point to 18 in October, according to the latest National Assn. of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

“It comes as no surprise that after trending upward from an historic low in January, the HMI’s positive momentum now appears to have stalled,” said Joe Robson, chairman of the NAHB and a homebuilder from Tulsa, OK. “Our economists have repeatedly warned that the approaching expiration of the $8,000 home buyer tax credit on Nov. 30, combined with the massive hurdles that builders face in obtaining construction financing and appropriate appraisals on new homes, could derail the fragile recovery in housing just as it is starting to take shape.”

Robson adds that an extension could potentially generate 350,000 jobs, $28.2 billion in wages, salaries and business income and $11.6 billion in additional tax revenues.