Residential building material prices, excluding energy, rose 0.4% in July and were up 5.0% from a year ago. Energy prices fell again in July but remained significantly higher than a year ago. Meanwhile, prices for services were down 0.3% over the month but were 6.2%...
The latest homeownership rate declined to 65% in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Census’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). The homeownership rate was unchanged from a year ago, and not statistically different than the rate in the first quarter of the year (65.3%). While this was a modest quarterly decrease, the broader picture continues to reflect...
Led by declines in gasoline and diesel prices, inflation eased for the second consecutive month after reaching a three-year high in May. As energy prices moderated, shelter resumed its role as the largest driver of headline inflation, accounting for one-third of the annual increase and...
Mortgage application activity slowed in July amid continuation of the war in Iran. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, a measure of total mortgage application volume, declined 6.6% month-over-month in July on a seasonally adjusted basis. Compared to a year ago, total mortgage...
Existing home sales continued to slow in July as record-high home prices and elevated mortgage rates weighed on buyers. Mortgage rates resumed an upward trend after the ceasefire ended in early July. Heightened geopolitical uncertainty and an increasingly hawkish stance from the Fed pushed rates...
Demand for all types of residential mortgages was weaker, while lending standards for most were essentially unchanged in the second quarter of 2026, according to the recent release of the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS). For commercial real estate (CRE) loans, lending standards for...
Wage growth for residential building workers continued to lose momentum in the second quarter of 2026, reflecting softer housing construction activity and weaker labor demand. According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, both nominal and inflation-adjusted wages have weakened further,...
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has released its State Projections of Remodeling (SPR) for the first quarter of 2026. As a reminder, the SPR provides on a quarterly basis a state-level estimation of the market share and total dollar value of remodeling spending....
The U.S. labor market weakened in July, with nonfarm payrolls down 23,000 and downward revisions cutting another 103,000 jobs from May and June. Although the unemployment rate edged lower to 4.1%, the decline reflected a smaller labor force rather than stronger hiring, as overall participation...
Confidence in the market for new multifamily housing weakened year-over-year in the second quarter, according to the Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The MMS produces two separate indices. The Multifamily Production Index (MPI) had a reading of 43,...
Re-escalation of the conflict in Iran pushed mortgage rates higher in July. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.54% in July, up 5 basis points (bps) over June. Since the conflict in the Middle East began, the 30-year mortgage rate has climbed...
Real GDP growth slowed in the second quarter of 2026, as a pullback in government spending and slower growth in investment and exports, more than offset stronger consumer spending. Business investment continued to support growth, particularly through equipment and intellectual property products, while imports increased...
The number of open positions in the construction sector increased in June, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The current level of open jobs is down measurably from three years ago due to declines in construction activity, particularly...
Private residential construction spending declined 0.3% in June, while substantial downward revisions to improvement (remodeling) spending significantly altered the sector’s recent trajectory. According to the latest construction spending data from the U.S. Census Bureau, private residential construction spending stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate...
Housing’s share of the economy was 15.8% in the second quarter of 2026, according to the latest estimates of GDP produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This share is down from 15.9% in the first quarter and is at the lowest level since 2019....
After reaching a three-year high last month, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge eased in June following declines in energy prices amid a temporary truce with Iran. This marked the first monthly decline in six years. However, the resumption of conflict and a rebound in...
An earlier post described how the top ten builders in the country accounted for 43.6% of new single-family closings in 2025. BUILDER magazine has now released additional data on the top ten builders within each of the 50 largest new home markets in the U.S.,...
The Federal Reserve held the federal funds rate at a target range of 3.5% to 3.75% at the conclusion of its July policy meeting. There were three dissenting votes on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), all of which supported raising the federal funds rate...
