Confidence among US home builders slipped in October, mostly on the looming expiration of a big tax credit.

The National Association of Home Builders' gauge of confidence in new-home sales fell for the first time in four months, slipping to 18 from 19 in September.

Wall Street expected the confidence gauge to rise to 20.

The latest data showed home sales were up 30% through August since bottoming in January. But a reason for that strong increase in demand is a $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers enacted by Washington last winter to spur the economy. The credit expires at the end of November.

Wall Street Journal