?EUR??,,????'??Today?EUR??,,????'???s HMI provides the latest evidence of a predicted and orderly cooling process for the nation?EUR??,,????'???s single-family new-home market, which easily hit record highs in 2005,?EUR??,,????'?? said NAHB President David Pressly.

Noting that the confidence gauge has remained within a narrow two-point range for four consecutive months following a retreat from its peak in mid-2005, NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders attributed March?EUR??,,????'???s slight downshift to eroding affordability conditions as well as a gradual withdrawal of investor demand in some areas.

?EUR??,,????'??Rising interest rates and high rates of home-price appreciation have raised the bar for homeownership to beyond what some families can reach,?EUR??,,????'?? he said. ?EUR??,,????'??Meanwhile, a retreat of short-term investors from certain markets is helping restore equilibrium between supply and demand.?EUR??,,????'??

March?EUR??,,????'???s HMI, at 55, represented a one-point decline from February?EUR??,,????'???s downwardly revised 56 reading, which followed two consecutive months at 57. There was slight erosion of the index?EUR??,,????'???s three components in the latest report, with single-point declines in the gauges for current single-family sales and traffic of prospective buyers and a two-point decline in sales expectations for the next six months. Both the current and expected sales components remained well in the positive range, at 60 and 62, respectively.