WASHINGTON - The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) reported that builders’ sales expectations for the next six months rose 1 point to 57 and the component measuring buyer traffic increased 2 points to 33.

Conversely, the component gauging current sales conditions fell 2 points to 48.

In May, builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes dipped 1 point to 45 from a revised April reading of 46 by HMI.

"After four months in which the HMI has shown little signs of fluctuation, it is clear that builder sentiment is becoming more in line with the market reality of a continuing but modest recovery," said NAHB Chairman Kevin Kelly, a home builder and developer from Wilmington, DE. "However, builders expressed some optimism that sales will pick up in the coming months."