National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog
Single-Family Starts Down as Affordability Challenges Persist
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Single-family housing starts declined in September as builders faced higher financing, building material costs, and ongoing labor shortages. Overall housing starts decreased 5.2% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual ...
Builder Sentiment Falls on Rising Rates
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Rising mortgage rates, energy and material costs, and worsening labor and lot conditions have pushed builder sentiment to a 14-year low. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family ...
Single-Family Permitting Declines Through August
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Single-family permitting activity continued to soften through the first eight months of 2026, while multifamily permitting remained stronger compared with the same period last year. Regional and state-level trends show ...
Research Highlights the Broad Benefits of Homeownership
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A rich, peer-reviewed academic literature finds that homeownership produces benefits that extend well beyond house-price appreciation. As detailed in a 2003 Journal of Urban Economics literature review, research across economics, ...
Building Material Price Inflation Nears Four Year High
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The Producer Price Index for final demand was up 1.3% in September, after rising 0.5% in August. Compared to a year ago, final demand prices were up 6.3%. The price ...
How Old Are Workers in the Construction Trades?
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A previous post examined the median age of the overall construction workforce and how it compares with workers in all industries. This analysis takes a closer look at workers in ...
Labor Shortages a Growing Problem
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Labor shortages in the home building industry are becoming more widespread, according to recent results from the NAHB/Well Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) survey. The September 2026 HMI survey asked ...
