Housing permits continued a downhill trend for the fifth month in a row, pointing to a broader residential construction slowdown for 2025. This slowdown is attributed to factors like higher mortgage rates, tariff concerns, and challenges about future housing demand due to economic uncertainty. Over...
Inflation rose to a 4-month high in June as consumer prices began to reflect tariff policy. The Consumer Price Index increased from 2.4% in May to 2.7% in June year-over-year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report. Despite the increase, core inflation came in...
The number of residential remodelers in the U.S. has reached a record high of 128,187 establishments, 65% higher than the number of residential builders (single-family and multifamily), which stands at 77,455. These official government counts were released by the U.S. Census Bureau as part of...
Despite shrinking lot sizes, values for single-family detached spec home lots continued to rise, with the national median outpacing U.S. inflation and reaching a new high in 2024. The U.S. median lot value for single-family detached for-sale homes started in 2024 stood at $60,000, according...
The share of smaller lots remained record high in 2024, with two out of three new single-family detached homes sold occupying lots under 9,000 square feet (1/5 of an acre or less). Moreover, a high share of 40% occupied lots under 7,000 square feet (or...
In the second quarter of 2025, the NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI) posted a reading of 59, down four points compared to the previous quarter. While this reading is still in positive territory, some remodelers, especially in the West, are seeing a slowing of...
Mortgage application activity picked up in June, supported by a slight decline in interest rates. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, which tracks mortgage application volume, rose 5.4% from May on a seasonally adjusted basis. Compared to June 2024, total applications were up...
Remote work may no longer dominate the U.S. labor force as it did during the height of the pandemic in 2020, but it still represents a substantial share of employment today. According to the latest data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), approximately 34.3 million...
The top ten builders captured a record 44.7% of all new U.S. single-family home closings in 2024, up 2.4 percentage points from 2023 (42.3%). This is the highest share ever captured by the top ten builders since NAHB began tracking BUILDER magazine data on new...
Multifamily units completed in 2024 recorded their highest level since 1986 at 608,000 units, according to NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction. For the eighth consecutive year, most multifamily units were in buildings with 50 or more units (these will be labeled...
The U.S. labor market continued to show resilience in June, with steady job gains led by state/local government and health care sectors. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.1%, signaling ongoing strength in hiring despite persistent economic uncertainty. However, there were some indications that the...
Over half of new single-family homes built in 2024 were two or more stories, according the recent release of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC). After declining in 2023, the share of homes started with two or more stories increased again in 2024, continuing...
Private residential construction spending fell by 0.5% in May, marking the fifth straight month of decreases. This drop was primarily driven by reduced spending on single-family construction. Compared to a year ago, total spending was down 6.7%, as the housing sector continues to navigate the...
The count of open, unfilled positions in the construction industry held steady amid a slowdown for housing, per the May Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The number of open jobs for the overall economy increased slightly from 7.40 million...
Despite persistently high mortgage rates, elevated financing costs for builders, and a shortage of buildable lots, single-family starts rebounded in 2024, following two straight years of declines. According to the National Association of Home Builders’ analysis of the 2024 Survey of Construction (SOC), a total...
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased in ten states in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the last quarter of 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Thirty-nine states reported real GDP declines, while the District of Columbia and Delaware reported...
In the first quarter of 2025, state and local governments experienced an increase in property tax revenue growth. On a seasonally adjusted basis, state and local government property tax revenue grew 1.1% over the quarter, according to the Census Bureau’s quarterly summary of state and...
Average mortgage rates were flat in June, according to Freddie Mac. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage held at 6.82%, while the 15-year stayed at 5.95%. Compared to a year ago, the 30-year rate is down 10 basis points (bps), and the 15-year rate is 24...
