Private residential construction spending fell by 0.9% in April, marking the third consecutive monthly decline. This decrease was primarily driven by reduced spending in single-family construction and home improvements. Compared to a year ago, total spending was down 4.8%, as the housing sector continues to...
The percentage of new apartment units that were absorbed within three months after completion continued to trend lower, according to the Census Bureau’s latest release of the Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units (SOMA). The survey covers new units in multifamily residential buildings...
Mortgage rates continued their upward trend in May due to market volatility triggered by fiscal concerns and weaker U.S. Treasury demand. According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.82% — a 9-basis-point (bps) increase from April. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage increased...
Only 56% of professional remodelers undertake projects designed to allow homeowners to Age-in-Place (AIP), according to results from NAHB’s Q1 2025 Remodeling Market Index (RMI) survey. This is the lowest percentage recorded since NAHB began periodically asking AIP questions on its RMI survey in 2004....
Prices for inputs to new residential construction—excluding capital investment, labor, and imports—fell 0.4% in April, following a (revised) increase of 0.8% in March. These figures are taken from the most recent Producer Price Index (PPI) report published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The PPI...
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 40 states in April compared to the previous month, while it decreased in 10 states and the District of Columbia. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 177,000 in April following a gain...
The Census estimate of new home sales posted an unexpected gain in April even as builders and consumers continue to deal with economic uncertainty, elevated interest rates and rising building material costs. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in April increased 10.9% to a 743,000...
According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts increased during the first quarter of 2025. For the quarter, 88,000 multifamily residences started construction. Of this total, 83,000 were built-for-rent. This was almost 11% higher than the first quarter...
Despite the brief retreat in mortgage rates and increased supply, existing home sales dropped to 7-month low in April, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This unexpected decline suggests buyers’ activity continues to be constrained by economic uncertainty and ongoing affordability challenges even...
Despite solid income gains and lower home prices, Americans still continue to face major housing affordability challenges, according to the latest data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Cost of Housing Index (CHI). The CHI results from the first quarter of 2025...
The missing middle construction sector includes development of medium-density housing, such as townhouses, duplexes and other small multifamily properties. The multifamily segment of the missing middle (apartments in 2- to 4-unit properties) has generally disappointed since the Great Recession. However, there has been a noticeable uptick for...
An expected impact of the virus crisis was a need for more residential space, as people used homes for more purposes including work. Home size correspondingly increased in 2021 as interest rates reached historic lows. However, as interest rates increased in 2022 and 2023, and...
Townhouse construction expanded more than 2 percent on a year-over-year basis per data from the first quarter of 2025. According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the first quarter of 2025, single-family attached...
Single-family built-for-rent construction posted flat growth on a year-over-year basis, as a higher cost of financing crowded out development activity. According to NAHB’s analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, there were approximately 19,000 single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR)...
NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates flat year-over year growth for custom home builders. The custom building market is less sensitive to the interest rate cycle than other forms of home building but is...
Economic uncertainty stemming from tariff issues, elevated mortgage rates and rising building material costs pushed single-family housing starts lower in April. Overall housing starts increased 1.6% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.36 million units, according to a report from the U.S....
The cost of credit for residential Land Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) eased in the first quarter of 2025, according to NAHB’s survey on AD&C Financing. During the quarter, the average contract interest rate declined on three of the four categories of loans tracked in...
Builder confidence fell sharply in May on growing uncertainties stemming from elevated interest rates, tariff concerns, building material cost uncertainty and the cloudy economic outlook. However, 90% of the responses received in May were tabulated prior to the May 12 announcement that the United States...
