The industry's own research.
69 items
showing 1–60 of 69
Single-family permitting activity continued to weaken through the first half of 2026, while multifamily permitting remained somewhat stronger compared with the same period last year. Over the first six months of the year, the number of single-family permits issued nationwide reached 465,301. Compared with the same…
Credit conditions on loans for residential Land Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) were still tightening in the second quarter of 2026, according to NAHB’s quarterly survey on AD&C Financing. The net easing index derived from the survey posted a second-quarter reading of -12.0 (the negative number…
Residential building material prices, excluding energy, rose 0.4% in July and were up 5.0% from a year ago. Energy prices fell again in July but remained significantly higher than a year ago. Meanwhile, prices for services were down 0.3% over the month but were 6.2% higher than a year ago. The Producer Price Index…
The latest homeownership rate declined to 65% in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Census’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). The homeownership rate was unchanged from a year ago, and not statistically different than the rate in the first quarter of the year (65.3%). While this was a modest quarterly…
Led by declines in gasoline and diesel prices, inflation eased for the second consecutive month after reaching a three-year high in May. As energy prices moderated, shelter resumed its role as the largest driver of headline inflation, accounting for one-third of the annual increase and over two-thirds of the…
Mortgage application activity slowed in July amid continuation of the war in Iran. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, a measure of total mortgage application volume, declined 6.6% month-over-month in July on a seasonally adjusted basis. Compared to a year ago, total mortgage…
Existing home sales continued to slow in July as record-high home prices and elevated mortgage rates weighed on buyers. Mortgage rates resumed an upward trend after the ceasefire ended in early July. Heightened geopolitical uncertainty and an increasingly hawkish stance from the Fed pushed rates to nearly 6.7% last…
Demand for all types of residential mortgages was weaker, while lending standards for most were essentially unchanged in the second quarter of 2026, according to the recent release of the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS). For commercial real estate (CRE) loans, lending standards for construction &…
Wage growth for residential building workers continued to lose momentum in the second quarter of 2026, reflecting softer housing construction activity and weaker labor demand. According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, both nominal and inflation-adjusted wages have weakened further,…
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has released its State Projections of Remodeling (SPR) for the first quarter of 2026. As a reminder, the SPR provides on a quarterly basis a state-level estimation of the market share and total dollar value of remodeling spending. The SPR is a statistical model…
The U.S. labor market weakened in July, with nonfarm payrolls down 23,000 and downward revisions cutting another 103,000 jobs from May and June. Although the unemployment rate edged lower to 4.1%, the decline reflected a smaller labor force rather than stronger hiring, as overall participation fell to its lowest…
Confidence in the market for new multifamily housing weakened year-over-year in the second quarter, according to the Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The MMS produces two separate indices. The Multifamily Production Index (MPI) had a reading of 43, down three…
Real GDP growth slowed in the second quarter of 2026, as a pullback in government spending and slower growth in investment and exports, more than offset stronger consumer spending. Business investment continued to support growth, particularly through equipment and intellectual property products, while imports…
The number of open positions in the construction sector increased in June, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The current level of open jobs is down measurably from three years ago due to declines in construction activity, particularly in housing. Recent gains for…
Private residential construction spending declined 0.3% in June, while substantial downward revisions to improvement (remodeling) spending significantly altered the sector’s recent trajectory. According to the latest construction spending data from the U.S. Census Bureau, private residential construction spending…
Housing’s share of the economy was 15.8% in the second quarter of 2026, according to the latest estimates of GDP produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This share is down from 15.9% in the first quarter and is at the lowest level since 2019. Residential construction, measured by residential fixed investment,…
After reaching a three-year high last month, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge eased in June following declines in energy prices amid a temporary truce with Iran. This marked the first monthly decline in six years. However, the resumption of conflict and a rebound in oil prices have reignited…
An earlier post described how the top ten builders in the country accounted for 43.6% of new single-family closings in 2025. BUILDER magazine has now released additional data on the top ten builders within each of the 50 largest new home markets in the U.S., ranked by single-family permits. It is important to note…
The housing market has changed greatly since the COVID-19 pandemic, along with consumer spending behaviors. During this period, housing demand surged, home prices appreciated rapidly, inflation increased, supply-chain disruptions happened, and mortgage rates moved from historic lows to elevated levels. These…
Following a multi-year run of record highs, the national median lot value for single-family detached spec homes largely stabilized in 2025. According to NAHB’s analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), the U.S. median lot value for homes started in 2025 was $59,000, compared with $60,000 a year…
Following the highest number of multifamily completions in nearly 40 years in 2024, completions declined in 2025 to 484,000, according to NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction. For the ninth consecutive year, a majority of new multifamily units were in buildings with 50 or more units (labeled…
Affordability challenges continued to weigh on the new-home market in June, as elevated mortgage rates, rising inflation and broader economic uncertainty kept many prospective buyers on the sidelines. Sales of newly built single-family home rose 1.6% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 628,000, up from…
At the start of 2026, most home builders predicted that high mortgage rates and hesitancy among buyers would be their toughest challenges this year. They weren’t wrong: the 30-year mortgage rate averaged 6.49% in June and housing demand has weakened, as reflected by flat mortgage applications in the first half of…
State labor market conditions softened in June as hiring slowed across much of the country. While a majority of states recorded payroll employment gains during the month, national job growth moderated and employment declines remained widespread in several states. Construction employment continued to expand…
The long-term shift toward building single-family detached homes on smaller lots appears to have stabilized. According to the latest Survey of Construction (SOC), the share of new homes built on smaller lots remained near record highs in 2025, following more than a decade of steadily shrinking lot sizes. While the…
Vinyl siding was the most used principle exterior wall material for homes started construction in 2025. This material held just over a quarter share of homes, surpassing stucco for the second time since 2018. The declining share for stucco reflected the slowdown for home building in parts of the Sun Belt. For homes…
This is a data-driven news report published by the National Association of Home Builders' Eye on Housing in July 2026 covering national housing starts, noting that multifamily residential construction gains offset a decline in single-family starts. The item addresses trends across the multifamily and homebuilding sectors at the national level.
This is a report published by NAHB's Eye on Housing in July 2026 examining builder sentiment at the national level, with a focus on homebuilders and economic conditions, particularly regarding affordability concerns.
This is an economic update published by NAHB's Eye on Housing in July 2026 covering building material price trends on national markets, noting that material costs continued to increase despite declining energy prices.
This is a data-focused report published by the National Association of Home Builders in July 2026 presenting permitting figures for single-family residential construction through May 2026 at the national level. The report indicates that single-family permitting activity showed continued weakness during the measurement period.
Inflation slowed to 3.5% in June 2026 from 4.2% in May, driven primarily by a mid-June ceasefire agreement that stabilized oil markets and reduced energy prices, with gasoline prices falling 9.7% and the shelter index posting its smallest monthly increase since January 2021. The document notes that the relief was short-lived as the ceasefire collapsed in early July, pushing oil prices up 12% and renewing inflation concerns, while core CPI excluding food and energy rose 2.6% year-over-year in June.
The share of new single-family homes with two or more stories declined from 52.5% in 2024 to 51.4% in 2025 according to Census Bureau data, while single-story homes rose from 47.5% to 48.6%. Regional variations showed the Midwest and South favoring single-story construction while the Northeast and West maintained higher shares of multi-story homes, with three-or-more-story homes comprising 5.2% of new homes nationally in 2025.
According to NAHB analysis of the 2025 Survey of Construction, new single-family housing starts nationwide totaled 939,182 units, representing a 6.9% decline compared to 2024, with the South Atlantic division leading at 308,189 starts followed by West South Central at 171,247 starts. Only three of nine Census divisions posted year-over-year growth—East South Central rising 13.7%, East North Central up 8.0%, and Middle Atlantic up 4.0%—while the remaining six divisions declined, with New England experiencing the steepest drop at 26.3%.
Existing home sales fell 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million units in June 2026, pulled back by record-high home prices and elevated mortgage rates around 6.5%, though year-over-year sales were up 2.8%. The median existing home price reached an all-time high of $440,600 (up 1.8% annually), inventory stood at 4.6 months' supply, and first-time buyer share was 33% of transactions.
In the second quarter of 2026, the NAHB Remodeling Market Index posted a reading of 61, down one point from the previous quarter, with the Current Conditions Index averaging 70 and the Future Indicators Index averaging 52. Remodelers reported strong sentiment supported by homeowners' record real estate asset gains and mortgage rate incentives to remodel rather than purchase, though 74% of remodelers noted suppliers increased material prices by an average of 6.7% since March due to higher fuel costs and economic uncertainty.
Mortgage applications remained essentially flat in June 2026 with a 0.3% month-over-month decline, driven by a 2.5% drop in refinancing applications that offset a 0.7% gain in purchase applications, while the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average contract rate increased 5 basis points to 6.59%. Adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) applications declined 9.4% during the month, reducing the ARM share of total applications to 8.2%, and the overall average loan size decreased 3.4% to $393,800.
In 2025, approximately 47,000 homes were built in age-restricted communities representing 3.45% of all housing starts, with roughly two-thirds being single-family units and one-third multifamily units. Age-restricted single-family homes carried a median sales price of $523,000—about 27% higher than non-age-restricted homes at $412,000—despite being only slightly larger at 2,500 square feet versus 2,100 square feet, with the price premium partly attributable to more expensive lot values.
Residential construction employment declined by 48,800 jobs over the preceding 12 months, marking the fifteenth consecutive annual decline and the longest stretch since the Great Recession, while location quotient analysis of December 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics data reveals that home building employment concentration is substantially higher in rural and smaller-market counties than in large metropolitan cores, with non-metro/micro counties averaging a location quotient of 1.48 and nearly three-quarters of Western state counties exceeding the national employment share.
The top ten builders' market share of new U.S. single-family home closings declined to 43.6% in 2025 from 44.8% in 2024, representing 295,959 closings out of 679,083 total new single-family homes sold, according to BUILDER magazine data cited by the National Association of Home Builders. D.R. Horton remained the largest builder with 12.8% market share (87,168 closings), while Lennar increased its share to a series-high 12.2%, narrowing the gap to just 0.6 percentage points between the top two builders.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.49% in June 2026, up 8 basis points from May and 44 basis points since late February, while the 15-year rate averaged 5.82%, driven by market pricing of potential Federal Reserve rate hikes due to persistent inflation and a resilient labor market. The 10-year Treasury yield averaged 4.48% in June but eased later in the month to around 4.44% following a preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement that temporarily reopened the Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping.
The U.S. labor market added 57,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in June 2026, the smallest gain since February, with downward revisions of 74,000 jobs to April and May reports indicating weaker underlying hiring momentum than initially reported. Residential construction employment declined 8,600 jobs in June and has shed 48,800 jobs over the past 12 months, marking the sixteenth consecutive month of annual decline, while the construction unemployment rate rose to 6.2%, the highest level since July 2021.
Private residential construction spending reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $930.2 billion in May 2026, up 0.3% from April and 1.8% from a year earlier, with remodeling spending driving the increase at 0.9% monthly and 8.1% annually while single-family construction declined 0.1% monthly and 4.0% annually. The data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows multifamily construction spending edged down 0.1% monthly but rose 3.3% year-over-year, and private nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.3% monthly and 6.6% annually, though data center spending continued to grow at 0.6% monthly and 23% year-over-year.
The Consumer Confidence Index rose from 90.6 to 91.2 in June 2026, driven by improved business conditions and declining oil prices, though consumer views of the labor market weakened with the share reporting jobs as "hard to get" reaching a five-and-a-half-year high at 22.5%. The Present Situation Index fell to 116.4 while the Expectation Index rose to 74.4, marking the seventeenth consecutive month below the 80 threshold often associated with recession signals within a year.
Construction job openings in the United States increased to 298,000 in May 2026, up from 266,000 in April and 222,000 a year prior, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey cited by the National Association of Home Builders. The construction job openings rate rose to 3.5% in May compared to 2.6% a year earlier, though current levels remain lower than three years ago due to weakness in residential construction partially offset by gains in nonresidential sectors such as data center construction.
Property tax revenue collected by state and local governments rose 2.7% in Q1 2026 to $214.6 billion, outpacing overall state and local tax growth of 1.5%, with property taxes comprising 37.5% of total tax revenue and representing the largest share among all revenue sources. Year-over-year, property tax collections increased 4.6% from Q1 2025, while individual income tax rose 1.4%, corporate income tax increased 2.1%, and sales tax declined 0.3%.
State-level real GDP growth strengthened in the first quarter of 2026, with 46 states and the District of Columbia recording increases, while national real GDP rose 2.1% driven by downward import revisions and nonresidential investments. Washington led all states with 4.5% annualized growth followed by California at 3.7%, while South Dakota experienced the weakest performance with a 1.6% decline, with regional growth ranging from 0.2% in the Plains to 3.6% in the Far West.
The PCE Price Index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, accelerated to a three-year high of 4.1% year-over-year in May 2026, with core PCE rising 3.4%, driven partly by energy price increases related to Iran conflict tensions. Despite elevated inflation, consumer spending remained resilient with a 0.7% monthly increase in May, though the personal saving rate held at a three-year low of 3.0% as households drew down savings to maintain spending amid eroding real income.
New home sales of newly built single-family homes declined 7.3% month-over-month in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 580,000 units and fell 6.8% year-over-year, driven by elevated mortgage rates, rising inflation, and economic uncertainty that constrained buyer affordability. The median new home sale price reached $424,900, months' supply of new homes stood at 10.3 months (above the balanced market indicator of 5-6 months), and regional performance was mixed with the West experiencing the sharpest monthly decline of 26.9%.
U.S. sawmill production fell in the first quarter of 2026, marking the second consecutive quarter of declining output, with production down 0.4% from the prior quarter though up 1.7% year-over-year, according to the Federal Reserve G.17 Industrial Production report. Sawmill full production capacity declined 6.0% year-over-year while the utilization rate rose to 71.8% on a four-quarter moving average, and employment in sawmill and wood preservation industries fell to roughly 82,800 workers, the lowest level since 2010 after twelve straight quarterly declines.
In May 2026, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 38 states with a net gain of 172,000 jobs nationally, while construction employment added 17,000 jobs with 23 states recording gains, though performance varied considerably across states. Over the 12-month period ending in May 2026, total nonfarm employment rose by 503,000 jobs nationally (0.3% gain), with construction employment increasing by 68,000 jobs (0.8% gain), though 19 states and D.C. experienced employment declines, and state unemployment rates ranged from 2.1% in South Dakota to 6.1% in D.C.
The NAHB analysis compares net new jobs created in 2024 (approximately 1.8 million) against housing permits issued in 2023 (1.51 million units) to assess whether housing construction is keeping pace with employment-driven demand, finding an overall jobs-to-permits ratio of 1.2 and elevated ratios of 1.84 for single-family permits and 2.61 for multifamily permits. The document identifies metropolitan areas with the highest housing supply pressures (Fairbanks, Morgantown, Battle Creek) and lowest pressures (Weirton, Wheeling, Elkhart), attributing imbalances to factors including construction costs, labor shortages, land availability, and regulatory barriers, while noting that multifamily development has played a more significant role in high-demand markets than single-family construction.
The household real estate asset market value reached $48.7 trillion in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 1.7% increase from the fourth quarter and a 2.6% increase year-over-year, while owners' equity in real estate totaled $34.9 trillion with a 71.6% equity share. Among generational cohorts as of the fourth quarter of 2025, Baby Boomers held the largest real estate assets at $19.4 trillion, followed by Gen X at $14.3 trillion and Millennials at $10.2 trillion, with Millennials experiencing the highest percentage gain of 80.4% since the fourth quarter of 2020.
The Federal Reserve maintained its federal funds rate at 3.75% in its June 2026 meeting under new Chair Warsh while adopting a more hawkish tone, removing the prior easing bias and emphasizing price stability, with the Summary of Economic Projections revising 2026 core PCE inflation expectations upward to 3.3% from 2.7% and indicating at least one rate hike by end of 2026. Chair Warsh announced a task force to review Fed operations across communications, balance sheet strategy, data sources, productivity analysis, and inflation framework, and acknowledged that current Fed policy is "somewhat restrictive" for the housing market while economic growth is projected at 2.2% for 2026 and unemployment at 4.3%.
Housing starts fell 15.4% in May 2026 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.18 million units, with multifamily construction dropping 40.2% month-over-month and single-family starts declining 1.9%, attributed to high interest rates, rising construction costs, and labor shortages. The total number of housing units under construction declined 7.1% year-over-year to 1.27 million units, while regional performance varied, with the Northeast showing strength but the South and West posting declines.
Builder confidence in newly built single-family homes fell to 35 in the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index for June 2026, marking the 14th consecutive month below 50, driven by rising material costs, elevated mortgage rates, and affordability challenges. The survey found that 35% of builders cut prices in June with an average reduction of 6%, while 62% used sales incentives, and regulatory costs were estimated to add more than 26% to the price of an average single-family home.
Through April 2026, single-family residential permits declined 6.4 percent year-over-year to 299,642 units nationwide due to affordability challenges and elevated borrowing costs, while multifamily permits increased 7.5 percent to 166,252 units with strong regional gains led by the Northeast's 33.5 percent increase. Regionally, single-family permitting fell in all four regions with the Northeast declining 13.8 percent, while multifamily permits rose in three of four regions with only the South experiencing an 8.4 percent decrease.
Residential building material prices, excluding energy, rose 4.4% year-over-year in May 2026, their highest rate since January 2023, while the price index for inputs to new residential construction increased 1.3% monthly and 6.9% annually. Energy prices for residential construction rose 17.2% in May and were 62.8% higher than a year prior, with No. 2 diesel fuel up 105.9% year-over-year, though gypsum building material prices declined 1.1% from the previous year.
An NAHB study estimates that government regulations account for $131,734, or 26.4% of the average price of a new single-family home, comprising $46,795 in lot-development regulatory costs and $84,939 in builder-phase construction costs. The regulatory cost burden increased 40% from the 2021 estimate of $93,871, more than double the 2011 estimate of $65,224, based on surveys conducted in March 2026 and calibrated against a January 2026 average new home price of $499,500.
The Consumer Price Index rose to 4.2% annually in May 2026, marking the highest increase in three years, with energy costs—driven by the Iran war—accounting for more than 60% of the monthly increase and pushing gasoline prices up more than a dollar. Core CPI (excluding food and energy) increased 2.9% annually, the shelter index rose 3.4% year-over-year, and the energy component surged 23.5% annually, while inflation outpaced wage growth for the second consecutive month and energy prices are expected to remain elevated for months ahead.
Existing home sales rose 3.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.17 million units in May 2026, reaching a five-month high as the first-time buyer share climbed to 35%, the highest since June 2020, according to National Association of Realtors data cited in this NAHB blog post. Despite the sales increase, inventory remained tight at 1.55 million units with a 4.5-month supply, mortgage rates held around 6.5% after rising over 50 basis points since late February, and the median existing home price reached $429,300, up 1.3% year-over-year for the 35th consecutive month of annual gains.