Month: July 2021

New NAHB research shows that despite declining self-employment rates and the rising top builder market share, residential construction remains the industry of independent entrepreneurs with close to 80% of homebuilders and specialty trade contractor firms being self-employed independent contractors. Even among firms with paid employees, the industry continues to be dominated by small businesses, with…

Although lumber prices have declined somewhat recently, this follows a period of record increases that started in mid-2020 and have left prices at historic highs.  In a recent NAHB survey, 94 percent of builders reported a shortage of framing lumber.  Despite this, as Tuesday’s post showed, wood framing remains the dominant construction method for single-family…