National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog

Which Local Markets Track National Trends the Most: 2024 Single-Family MAI
Which Local Markets Track National Trends the Most: 2024 Single-Family MAI
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The National Association of Home Builders developed the Single-Family Market Association Index (MAI) to measure how closely single-family building permits in metro areas follow national patterns. By comparing local and ...
The Fed Cuts amid Partly Cloudy Conditions
The Fed Cuts amid Partly Cloudy Conditions
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With the government shutdown limiting the quantity of economic data available to markets and policymakers, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) enacted a widely anticipated 25 basis point ...
Home Price Growth Slows
Home Price Growth Slows
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Home prices in August grew at the lowest annual rate in over two years, according to the recent release of the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index (seasonally adjusted – ...
Two-Story Foyer Trend Stabilizes in 2024
Two-Story Foyer Trend Stabilizes in 2024
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In 2024, nearly a quarter of new homes were built with a two-story foyer, virtually unchanged from 2023, according to data obtained from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) ...
Inflation Picks Up in September
Inflation Picks Up in September
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Inflation increased in September to the fastest pace since the start of the year, showing tariff pressure on prices continues to materialize gradually, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics ...
Existing Home Sales Increase in September
Existing Home Sales Increase in September
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Existing home sales rose to a seven-month high in September as mortgage rates eased and inventory improved, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Resale inventory matched to the ...
Where are Porches Most Common for Newly-Built Homes?
Where are Porches Most Common for Newly-Built Homes?
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Although the share of new homes with porches edged down in 2024, porches continue to rank as the most common outdoor feature on new homes, according to NAHB tabulation of ...
How COVID-19 Reshaped the U.S. Labor Market and Housing Demand
How COVID-19 Reshaped the U.S. Labor Market and Housing Demand
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Between February 2020 and June 2022, the U.S. labor market experienced the deepest downturn on record followed by the fastest recovery in at least a century. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted ...
Median Age of Construction Labor Force Holds at 42 
Median Age of Construction Labor Force Holds at 42 
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The median age of construction labor force is 42, one year older than a typical worker in the national labor force, according to NAHB analysis of the most recent 2023 ...
Non-Conventional Financing for New Home Sales Loses Ground in 2024
Non-Conventional Financing for New Home Sales Loses Ground in 2024
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Nationwide, the share of non-conventional financing for new home sales accounted for 31% of the market per NAHB analysis of the 2024 Census Bureau Survey of Construction (SOC) data. This ...
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Approximately 2.3 million tax returns filed for tax year 2023 utilized the Energy Efficient Home Improvement credit (25C tax credit), according to the latest IRS clean energy tax credit statistics. Through May 23rd of the 2024 tax filing season for 2023 returns, almost 138 million...

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 32 states in August compared to the previous month, while 17 states and the District of Columbia saw a decrease. Kansas reported no change. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 142,000 in...

While the share of new homes with patios continues to climb, the share with decks has hovered at a historic low of under 18%, according to NAHB tabulation of data from the HUD/Census Bureau Survey of Construction (SOC). Every year from the re-design of the...

New manufactured homes saw a decline in shipments in 2023 compared to the previous year. According to the Manufactured Housing Survey (MHS), 89,169 manufactured homes were shipped in 2023, a decrease of 21% from the 112,882 homes shipped in 2022. The Census defines a manufactured...

NAHB published research earlier this year on home buyer preferences called What Home Buyers Really Want. Consumers were asked to rate how 19 technology features would influence their home purchase decision, if at all, using the following four-point scale: Seventy-eight percent of home buyers rated...

The September jobs report indicates that the U.S. labor market remains strong. Job growth accelerated, and the unemployment rate fell to a three-month low of 4.1%. Meanwhile, job growth for the previous two months (July and August) was upwardly revised. In September, wage growth accelerated...

In 2023, 66% of newly completed single-family homes featured two-car garages, according to NAHB’s analysis of the Census’s Survey of Construction data. This was the most common parking option across all Census divisions. By Census division, South Atlantic had the highest share of two-car garages...

With housing being a key issue for the 2024 election cycle, it is worth analyzing distinct characteristics as well as similarities that housing markets in congressional districts share. The differences start with a substantial variation in homeownership rates across congressional districts. While the 2023 American...

In 2023, a quarter of new homes were built with a two-story foyer, down slightly from 26% in 2022, according to data obtained from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) and tabulated by NAHB. The market share of two-story foyers has been generally trending...

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume by the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey, rose 18.4% month-over-month on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis, driven primarily by a surge in refinancing activity. Compared to September 2023, the index increased by 47%....

Private residential construction spending fell 0.3% in August, according to the Census Construction Spending data. Nevertheless, it remained 2.7% higher compared to a year ago. The monthly decline in total private construction spending for August was largely due to reduced spending on single-family and multifamily...

After a period of slowing associated with declines for some elements of residential construction, the count of open construction sector jobs bounced back in the August data, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). However, construction job openings remain...

In September, mortgage rates maintained their downward trajectory, returning to levels last seen two years ago. According to Freddie Mac, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.18%, a decline of 32 basis points (bps) from August. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage saw...

The latest NAHB study on home buyer preferences – What Home Buyers Really Want Study – asked consumers about the features and amenities they would want in a home, specifically regarding windows and exterior doors.  Respondents were asked to rate eight window and four exterior...

State & local tax revenue from property taxes paid reached $780.9 billion in the four quarters ending in the second quarter of 2024 (seasonally adjusted), according to the Census Bureau’s estimates. This is a 1.7% increase from the revised $767.7 billion in the four quarters...

Porches continue to rank as the most common outdoor feature on new homes, according to NAHB tabulation of the latest data from the Survey of Construction (SOC, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau with partial funding from HUD). Of the roughly 950,000 single-family homes started...

Expectations of the Federal Reserve beginning the first in a series of rate reductions kept potential home buyers in a holding pattern in August. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in August fell 4.7% after an unusually strong July, according to newly released data from...

The homeownership rate for multigenerational households increased by 4.9 percentage points (pp) over the last decade, but there’s another household type that experienced an even larger increase in the homeownership rate over the same period—single parent households. In further analysis of the Census’s American Community...

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