NAHB housing market index remains unchanged at 60 in July, the highest level since November 2005

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released its housing market index for the U.S. on Thursday. The NAHB housing market index remained unchanged at 60 in July, in line with expectations. It was the highest level since November 2005.

June's figure was revised up from 59.

A level above 50.0 is considered positive, below indicates a negative outlook.

The increase was driven by a rise in two of three components of the index. The current sales conditions subindex rose one point to 66 in June, the subindex measuring sales expectations in the next six months climbed two points to 71, while the buyer traffic subindex was down one point to 43.

"The fact that builder confidence has returned to levels not seen since 2005 shows that housing continues to improve at a steady pace, " the NAHB Chairman Tom Woods said. He added that housing market is expected to continue to recover in the second half of the year.

The NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe noted that the current reading was driven by "stronger sales in both the new and existing home markets" and by continued job growth.