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  • October Gains in Private Residential Construction Spending

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    NAHB analysis of Census Construction Spending data shows that private residential construction spending rose 1.2% in October, after a dip in September. It stood at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of $884 billion. Total private residential construction spending is 0.7% higher compared to a year ago. This was the first year-over-year increase since December 2022. The total construction monthly increase… Read More ›

  • New Single-Family Home Foundations in 2022: Geographic Shifts

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    NAHB analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC) shows that 70% of all new single-family homes started in 2022 were built on slab foundations, followed by 19% of homes built with a full/partial basement and 10% of homes built with a crawl space. As home building shifts towards the southern geographic divisions, slab adoption rates are growing higher. The share… Read More ›

  • September Private Residential Construction Spending Inches Up

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    NAHB analysis of Census Construction Spending data shows that private residential construction spending rose 0.6% in September, after a 1.3% increase in August. It stood at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of $872 billion. However, total private residential construction spending is still 2.2% lower compared to a year ago. The total construction monthly increase is attributed to more spending on… Read More ›

  • Homeownership Rate Stays at 66%

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    The Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (CPS/HVS) reported the U.S. homeownership rate at 66% in the third quarter of 2023, amid persistently tight housing supply and elevated mortgage interest rates. The homeownership rate remained statistically unchanged from the second quarter reading (65.9%). Compared to the peak of 69.2% in 2004, the homeownership rate is 3.2 percentage points lower and remains… Read More ›

  • Personal Saving Rate Drops to 3.4% in September

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    The most recent data release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed that personal income increased 0.3% in September. The pace of personal income growth slowed after reaching a 1% monthly gain in January 2023. Gains in personal income are largely driven by increases in wages and salaries. With spending increasing faster than personal income, the September personal savings… Read More ›

  • Characteristics of Recent Home Buyers

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    In a new study, NAHB uses the 2021 American Housing Survey (AHS) to investigate the characteristics of recent home buyers, defined as households who purchased homes in the two years preceding the date the 2021 AHS was conducted. According to this criterion, roughly 10.2 million households recently bought and moved to a new home. The study focuses on two important… Read More ›

  • August Gains for Private Residential Construction Spending

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    NAHB analysis of Census Construction Spending data shows that private residential construction spending rose 0.6% in August. It is the fourth consecutive increase since May 2023, standing at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of $879.9 billion. However, total private residential construction spending is still 3.1% lower compared to a year ago. The total construction monthly increase is attributed to more… Read More ›

  • More Women Working in Construction in 2022

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    The number of women employed in the construction industry increased to over 1.28 million in 2022, as the construction industry recovered all jobs lost during the pandemic. Currently, women make up 10.9% of the construction workforce, up from 9.3% in 2002. As the construction skilled labor shortage remains a key challenge for housing, adding new workers is an important goal… Read More ›

  • Slight Gain for Student Housing Investment

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    According to the data released by Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), private fixed investment in student dormitories inched up 1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $3.6 billion in the second quarter of 2022, after a 6.4% increase in the first quarter. Private fixed investment in dorms was 8.7% higher than a year ago, but still below the… Read More ›

  • July Gains in Private Residential Construction Spending

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    NAHB analysis of Census Construction Spending data shows that private residential construction spending rose 1.4% in July after an increase of 1.5% in June and 3.5% in May. Spending stood at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of $879 billion. However, total private residential construction spending is still 5.5% lower compared to a year ago. The total construction monthly increase is… Read More ›