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.

Economies of Scale in Single-family Home Construction

The cost per square foot of a single-family home declines systematically as the home becomes larger, according to NAHB analysis of two recent data sources. In microeconomics, unit costs that decline as a business operation increases in size are called economies of scale. In home building, economies of scale may exist in several forms. It…

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Credit for Builders: Rates Up, Availability Down in the Second Quarter

During the second quarter of 2024, credit for residential Land Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) continued to tighten and became even more expensive for most types of loans, according to NAHB’s survey on AD&C Financing. The survey was conducted in July and asked specifically about financing conditions in the second quarter, predating the release of…

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