Eye On Housing

National Association of Home Builders Discusses Economics and Housing Policy

Paul Emrath

Paul Emrath, Ph.D., is the vice president for survey and housing policy research for NAHB where his responsibilities include conducting statistical and economic research for NAHB and its local affiliates, as well as managing NAHB’s survey and housing policy departments. The survey department conducts the monthly survey that generates the widely cited NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, as well as special surveys such as the one used to break down construction costs in a new home. The housing policy research department conducts a broad range of policy-related research such as estimating the economic impact of home building and analyzing proposed government regulations changes for NAHB committees and councils. Since joining NAHB in 1992, Dr. Emrath has developed many of the statistical methods NAHB uses to analyze housing data, produced over 700 local impact of home building studies, and published more than 150 articles on a wide variety of housing related topics — twice winning National Investment Center awards for articles on 55+ housing. Prior to joining NAHB, he taught economic theory and statistics at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for four years. He holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

It Takes 22 Subcontractors to Build the Average Home

Paul Emrath33 mins

A previous post discussed how the current shortage of subcontractors in residential construction is becoming more acute.  This is significant, because subcontractors are very important to the construction of the typical home.  Periodically, NAHB has found it worthwhile to remind the public just how important. NAHB addressed the topic most recently in the September 2015…

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NAHB Updates Local Impact of Home Building Numbers

Paul Emrath04 mins

A recent Eye on Housing post reported on NAHB’s 800th customized local impact study. In addition to studies customized to a particular area, NAHB has traditionally produced a “typical local” report using national average inputs.  This report—showing the jobs, income and taxes generated by residential construction in a typical local area—is available free to everyone on NAHB’s web…

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The Typical American Subdivision

Paul Emrath43 mins

Data collected during a 2014 survey allow NAHB to produce, for the first time, summary statistics that describe the typical residential subdivision being built in the United States.  The results were recently published as a Special Study in HousingEconomics.com. For subdivisions of single-family detached homes, the summary statistics are as follows: Median size: 22 acres. Median number of housing…

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