National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog

Gains for Student Housing Construction in the Last Quarter of 2025 
Gains for Student Housing Construction in the Last Quarter of 2025 
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Private fixed investment for student dormitories was up 1.5% in the last quarter of 2025, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $3.9 billion. This gain followed three consecutive quarterly declines before rebounding in the final two quarters of the year. The elevated interest rates continued to weigh on student housing construction. Despite ...
Price Growth for Building Materials Slows to Start the Year
Price Growth for Building Materials Slows to Start the Year
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Residential building material prices rose at a slower rate in January, according to the latest Producer Price Index release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was the first decline ...
Home Improvement Loan Applications Moderate as Borrower Profile Gradually Ages
Home Improvement Loan Applications Moderate as Borrower Profile Gradually Ages
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Home improvement activity has remained elevated in the post-pandemic period, but both the volume of loan applications and the age profile of borrowers have shifted in notable ways. Data from ...
Affordability Pyramid Shows Over Half of U.S. Households Cannot Buy a $300,000 Home
Affordability Pyramid Shows Over Half of U.S. Households Cannot Buy a $300,000 Home
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NAHB recently released its 2026 Priced-Out Analysis, highlighting the housing affordability challenge. While previous posts discussed the impacts of rising home prices and interest rates on affordability, this post focuses ...
Housing’s Share of GDP Declined Further at the End of 2025
Housing’s Share of GDP Declined Further at the End of 2025
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Housing’s share of the economy was 16.0% in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the latest estimates of GDP produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This share is ...
Young Adult Headship Rates in 2024: Cyclical Slip or New Equilibrium?
Young Adult Headship Rates in 2024: Cyclical Slip or New Equilibrium?
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Reversing the post-pandemic rebound, the headship rates among young adults (the share of the population heading their own households) declined in 2024, according to NAHB’s analysis of the American Community ...
A 25-Basis-Point Decline in the Mortgage Rate Prices-In 1.42 Million Households
A 25-Basis-Point Decline in the Mortgage Rate Prices-In 1.42 Million Households
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Housing affordability remains a critical challenge nationwide, and mortgage rates continue to play a central role in shaping homebuying power. Although rates have declined from the recent peak of about ...
New Home Sales Close 2025 with Modest Gains
New Home Sales Close 2025 with Modest Gains
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New home sales ended 2025 on a mixed but resilient note, signaling steady underlying demand despite ongoing affordability and supply constraints. The latest data released today (and delayed because of ...
U.S. Economy Ends 2025 on a Slower Note
U.S. Economy Ends 2025 on a Slower Note
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Real GDP growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter of 2025 as the historic government shutdown weighed on economic activity. While consumer spending continued to drive growth, federal government spending ...
Delinquency Rates Normalize While Credit Card and Student Loan Stress Worsens
Delinquency Rates Normalize While Credit Card and Student Loan Stress Worsens
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Delinquent consumer loans have steadily increased as pandemic distortions fade, returning broadly to pre-pandemic levels. According to the latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit from the Federal Reserve ...
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All-cash purchases accounted for 7.9% of new home sales in the third quarter of 2024, marking the highest level this year but lowest level for the third quarter since 2022, according to NAHB analysis of the latest Census Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing...

With housing affordability at a multidecade low, housing costs have become a major issue in the 2024 presidential election. While NAHB reports the national homeownership rate from the Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey on a quarterly basis, examining characteristics across congressional districts provides valuable insights....

Home buyers moved off the sidelines in September following the Federal Reserve’s recent move to cut interest rates for the first time in four years.  Sales of newly built, single-family homes in September increased 4.1% to a 738,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from a downwardly...

In 2023, the total number of second homes was 5.7 million, accounting for 4% of the total housing stock, according to NAHB estimates of the 2023 American Community Survey. Second homes have been in a steady decline over the past few years, from 7.15 million...

Despite recent easing mortgage rates and improved inventory, existing home sales fell to a 14-year low in September as elevated home prices are causing potential buyers to hold out for lower rates, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Sales remained sluggish as the...

While the lack of affordable housing dominates the headlines across the nation, congressional districts with higher shares of renter households are disproportionately affected by the current affordability crisis. Geographically, the districts with the largest housing cost burdens are heavily concentrated in California, Florida, and the...

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 41 states and the District of Columbia in September compared to the previous month, while eight states saw a decrease. Nevada reported no change. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 254,000 in...

Nationally, nearly 140 million people in the United States routinely commuted to work, according to NAHB analysis of the 2023 American Community Survey data. Among these people, approximately 23.8 million people spent more than 90 minutes each day going to and from their place of...

Homeownership is an important voter issue for the upcoming election with both presidential candidates putting forth housing policies to tackle the housing affordability crisis. In a recent NAHB post, the national homeownership rate sat at 65%, but there are large disparities in homeownership when broken...

Nearly 1.3 million tax returns filed for tax year 2023 utilized the Residential Clean Energy Credit (25D 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 tax...

With the Federal Reserve beginning an easing of monetary policy and builder sentiment improving, single-family starts posted a modest gain in September while multifamily construction continued to weaken because of tight financing and an ongoing rise in completed apartments. Overall housing starts decreased 0.5% in...

With inflation gradually easing and builders anticipating mortgage rates will moderate in coming months, builder sentiment moved higher for a second consecutive month despite challenging affordability conditions. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was 43 in October, up two points from...

During the second quarter of 2024, the volume of total outstanding acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) loans posted the largest year-over-year percentage decline since 2012, as interest rates remain elevated before the beginning of the Fed cutting short-term interest rates in September. AD&C loan conditions...

We’re excited to introduce a new way for you to stay informed about the latest trends in housing and construction economics: our Eye on Housing Highlights video series! For each edition, we will highlight top research topics including construction statistics, housing affordability, policy research, NAHB...

Over the first eight months of 2024, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 685,923. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is an increase of 11.5% over the August 2023 level of 615,453. Year-to-date ending in August, single-family permits were up...

In 2023, 64.8% of all new single-family homes started were built within a community or homeowner’s association. This share increased from the 62.6% recorded in 2022, according to data tabulated from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC). This marks the third highest share since...

Nationally, across the 86 million owner-occupied homes in the U.S., the average annual real estate taxes paid in 2023 was $4,112, according to NAHB analysis of the 2023 American Community Survey. Homeowners in New Jersey continued to pay the highest real estate taxes, paying an...

Prices for inputs to new residential construction—excluding capital investment, labor, and imports—decreased 0.6% in September according to the most recent Producer Price Index (PPI) report published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compared to a year ago, this index was down 0.1% in September...

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