WASHINGTON, DC—Regardless of whether Hurricane Harvey or Irma was as devastating as each storm could have been for its region, the fact remains that both will have a near-term impact on the residential sector, and not only in the states of Texas and Florida. “The three-month average for single-family production has reached a post-recession high, but the months ahead may show volatility given that the building markets affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma represent about 14% of national production,” says Robert Dietz, chief economist with the National Association of Home Builders, commenting on federal data released Tuesday.

NAHB's latest monthly survey of builder confidence, issued Monday, reflects the uncertainty in the wake of the back-to-back storms in late August and early September. The confidence index in the market for newly-built single-family homes fell three points to a level of 64 in September from a downwardly revised August reading of 67.

“The recent hurricanes have intensified our members' concerns about the availability of labor and the cost of building materials,” says NAHB chairman Granger MacDonald, who's also chairman and CEO of Kerrville, TX-based builder MacDonald Cos. He adds, though, “Once the rebuilding process is underway, I expect builder confidence will return to the high levels we saw this spring.”