If a man wants to stop intimacy for a while in a dating relationship, is that a negative sign?

I was seeing this guy for almost 3 months. It has been great- we enjoy each other's company very much- we enjoy cooking dinner and breakfast for each other, hiking, watching plays, walking on the beach, etc. He's introduced me to his friends and cousins and they all like me very much. We have been intimate many times in the past couple of months, and we both enjoy that with each other very much- in fact, he is incredibly physically attracted to me. But, i did feel that he was holding back in some sense. He himself addressed this- we talked last week, and he said that he is still in love with the woman that he broke up with 6 years ago. That came as a shocker, but they were engaged, so it makes sense. He's not talked to her in 3 years now. He does not intend to go back, he just has his feelings confused. He says that in his relationships since then, he hasn't been able give himself completely to a woman. He says that he sees the care that I have for him in his eyes, and that he can't reciprocate right now, so we should not be intimate until he's sure that he can love me. He says that he wants to do things "right" this time- court me, take me out on a first date again, because I am very dear to him. He wants to build from the friendship up. He has been very helpful, even after that conversation- i wanted a hammer, he specially purchased one to give to me (because he didn't have one). He helped me set up the furniture from Ikea in my home. He says that for the short term, he can offer me friendship and complete honesty, and then, we can see where it goes from there. I told him that I would rather wait for him than see other people, and he said that's my choice. He says that he needs to reevaluate his life- he's at that point in his life. I take this positively- after all it's better to be friends first, and good relationships are built on mutual trust and patience. But my friends say that he's trying to go away gradually from my life- they haven't met him yet though. Is it a bad thing that he doesn't want intimacy for the "short term"? I'll appreciate any insight. Thanks!