The April meeting of the Fed’s monetary policy committee featured a lot of institutional news for a month in which the Fed kept monetary policy unchanged. The outlook for the
The long-running shift in the construction labor force away from construction trades and toward management, business, and technical roles is ongoing and gaining momentum, according to NAHB’s analysis of the
Energy input prices increased in March at their fastest pace since June of 2020 as the conflict in Iran shocked critical global supply chains. Building material prices, excluding energy, rose
Immigrants’ share of the construction workforce reached a record high in 2024, with foreign-born workers accounting for more than a quarter of the industry’s labor force (26.3%). The share is
Property tax revenue collected by state and local governments rose for the ninth consecutive quarter according to the Census Bureau’s quarterly summary of state and local tax revenue. Total tax
Around 47% of the U.S. housing stock was built in the 1980s and earlier. The median age of owner-occupied homes climbed to 42 years old in 2024, up from 31
The Fed continued its current pause for rate reductions at the conclusion of the March meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank’s monetary policy body. The Fed
Residential building material price growth accelerated in February after slowing a month prior, according to the latest Producer Price Index release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since the BLS
U.S. sawmill production was unchanged in the third quarter according to the Federal Reserve G.17 Industrial Production report. Utilization rates for sawmills and wood preservation industries remained near 70% despite
Residential building material prices rose at a slower rate in January, according to the latest Producer Price Index release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was the first decline
NAHB recently released its 2026 Priced-Out Analysis, highlighting the housing affordability challenge. While previous posts discussed the impacts of rising home prices and interest rates on affordability, this post focuses
Reversing the post-pandemic rebound, the headship rates among young adults (the share of the population heading their own households) declined in 2024, according to NAHB’s analysis of the American Community
Housing affordability remains a critical challenge nationwide, and mortgage rates continue to play a central role in shaping homebuying power. Although rates have declined from the recent peak of about
The NAHB 2026 priced-out estimates show that the housing affordability challenge is widespread across the country. In 39 states and the District of Columbia, over 65% of households are priced
Housing affordability remains a critical issue, with 65% of U.S. households unable to afford a median-priced new home in 2026. When mortgage rates are elevated, even a small increase in
Persistently low homeowner and rental vacancy rates indicate that the U.S. housing market remains structurally undersupplied. Comparing 2024 abnormally low vacancy rates with long-run equilibrium levels across U.S. metropolitan markets,
The latest homeownership rate rose to 65.7% in the last quarter of 2025, according to the Census’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). While this was a modest quarterly increase, the broader
The Fed paused its easing cycle at the conclusion of the January meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank’s monetary policy body. The Fed held the short-term