National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog

Job Market Shows Signs of Cooling in November
Job Market Shows Signs of Cooling in November
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In November, job growth slowed, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, its highest level in four years. At the same time, job gains for the previous two months (August ...
Builder Sentiment Inches Higher but Ends the Year in Negative Territory
Builder Sentiment Inches Higher but Ends the Year in Negative Territory
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Builder confidence inched higher to end the year but still remains well into negative territory as builders continue to grapple with rising construction costs, tariff and economic uncertainty, and many ...
Homeownership Rate Inches Up to 65.3% 
Homeownership Rate Inches Up to 65.3% 
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The latest homeownership rate rose to 65.3% in the third quarter of 2025, according to the Census’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). Despite this quarterly increase, the trend continues to reflect ...
No Risk-Free Path: Fed Eases Monetary Policy
No Risk-Free Path: Fed Eases Monetary Policy
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The central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) cut rates a third and final time in 2025, reducing the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points ...
Construction Labor Market Stable
Construction Labor Market Stable
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The count of open, unfilled positions in the construction industry was relatively unchanged in October, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The current level ...
Mortgage Activity Continued to Climb in November
Mortgage Activity Continued to Climb in November
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Mortgage activity continued to climb in November, posting the largest year-over-year increase in more than five years. Every major category increased on a year-over-year basis as mortgage rates continue to trend lower, led by strong increases in refinancing and adjustable-rate mortgage activity.  The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market ...
Community Associations: A Growing Trend in 2024
Community Associations: A Growing Trend in 2024
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In 2024, 65.7% of all new single-family homes started were built within a community or homeowner’s association. This share increased from the 64.8% recorded in 2023, according to data tabulated ...
Mortgage Rates Continue to Trend Lower in November
Mortgage Rates Continue to Trend Lower in November
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The average mortgage rate in November continued to trend lower to its lowest level in over a year. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.24% in November, ...
Number of Bathrooms in New Single-Family Homes in 2024
Number of Bathrooms in New Single-Family Homes in 2024
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Single-family homes started in 2024 typically had two full bathrooms, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Construction. Homes with three full bathrooms continued to have the second ...
House Price Appreciation by State and Metro Area: Third Quarter 2025
House Price Appreciation by State and Metro Area: Third Quarter 2025
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House prices continued to rise in the third quarter of 2025, though the pace of growth slowed as elevated mortgage rates, affordability challenges, and persistent economic uncertainty weighed on consumer ...
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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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