Growing economic uncertainty stemming from tariff concerns and elevated building material costs kept builder sentiment in negative territory in April, despite a modest bump in confidence due to a slight retreat in mortgage interest rates. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was 40 in April, edging up one point from March, according to the NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. “The recent dip in mortgage rates may have pushed some buyers off the fence in March, helping builders with sales activity,” said NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes. “At the same time, builders have expressed growing uncertainty over market conditions as tariffs have increased price volatility for building materials.” …The HMI index gauging current sales conditions rose two points to 45. The gauge charting traffic of prospective buyers increased one point to 25 while the component measuring sales expectations in the next six months fell 4 points to 43.