A new survey to measure borrower and would-be borrower sentiment for housing loans shows a decrease in the confidence level among home buyers.

The Genworth Homebuyer Confidence Index (GHCI) showed only a quarter of borrowers and would-be borrowers surveyed considered buying a house. The figure is half of the respondents who considered buying in 2009.

The GHCI is a single measure launched today by lenders mortgage insurer Genworth Financial (Genworth). The measure is based on consumer attitudinal data collected by Genworth from 12,000 respondents over the last five years.

The 2010 GHCI is 99.1. The index is down slightly from last year's 99.5.

The 2010 index point at strong employment figures as the main catalyst for the high levels of confidence. However, the confidence level runs inversely proportional with the construction index for August.

The Australian Industry Group (AI Group) - Housing Industry Association's (HIA) Australian performance of construction index for August is 43.2. The figure is way below the 50 point level.

Construction activities have taken a slow pace even with the estimated shortfall of 200,000 housing units. The housing units at present have a median national dwelling price of $465,000.

The prices continue to rise. Median national home prices went up by 0.8 percent in June. In July, the increase was 0.1 percent.