The National Association of Home Builders’ monthly confidence index jumped 4 points to a seasonally adjusted reading of 62 in February, the trade group said Tuesday.

The February gain was the second in a row and put the sentiment index, which some economists view as an early read on the pace of residential construction, back to its mid-autumn level. It easily beat the Econoday consensus forecast of a one-point increase. 

The Housing Market Index (HMI) is based on a monthly survey of NAHB members designed to take the pulse of the single-family housing market. The survey asks respondents to rate market conditions for the sale of new homes at the present time and in the next six months as well as the traffic of prospective buyers of new homes.

In February, the index component that tracks views of current sales conditions rose three points to a reading of 67, and the tracker of expectations for the next six months jumped five points to 68. The measure of buyer traffic rose four points to 48.

Any reading over 50 signals improvement, but the buyer traffic component is rarely above 50, even in the go-go days of the housing bubble a decade ago.

According to Realtor.com, Builders are in a sweet spot: economic conditions like a strong job market are helping them sell more homes, and falling mortgage rates are making that job even easier. But NAHB continued to note that “affordability remains a critical issue.” Builders say regulations are still “excessive,” and the Trump administration’s tariffs have made raw materials much more expensive.