Material costs increased by 6.7% over the previous year, according to results from the survey for the July 2026 NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). A large majority (72.9%) of the builders responding to the survey reported that their cost of materials for the same...
The labor market continued to lose momentum in July, with total nonfarm payroll employment declining nationally and employment gains becoming more limited across states. While overall employment fell by 23,000 jobs, construction employment remained comparatively resilient, adding 22,000 jobs during the month. In July, nonfarm...
Single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR, or built-to-rent (BTR)) construction fell back in the second quarter of 2026, as a higher cost of financing, increased multifamily supply and policy concerns over Congressional legislation related to institutional capital froze parts of the development market. Fortunately, changes by the House...
After three consecutive quarters of modest improvement, housing affordability worsened in the second quarter as higher mortgage rates, rising construction costs and economic uncertainty weighed on the market, according to the latest data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Cost of Housing...
Second quarter 2026 data reveal softer conditions for townhouse construction as housing affordability challenges affect homebuyer demand, particularly in larger metropolitan markets. According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the second quarter of...
With overall single-family construction down almost 7% for the first seven months of 2026, custom home building has been a relative bright spot for the residential construction industry. The custom building market is less sensitive to the interest rate cycle than other forms of home...
Housing starts fell in July as economic uncertainty, rising construction costs, labor shortages and elevated financing expenses continued to challenge builders. Overall housing starts decreased 12.4% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.24 million units, according to a report from the U.S....
New home sales rose in the second quarter but were lower than a year ago, according to the U.S. Census Bureau New Residential Sales release. The share of homes purchased with conventional financing remains high, while the share purchased with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) financing...
In the second quarter of 2026, consumer credit growth slowed over the quarter and was lower than a year ago. According to the Federal Reserve’s G.19 Consumer Credit Report, total outstanding U.S. consumer credit reached $5.17 trillion in the second quarter of 2026. This marked a 2.60% increase at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) from the first quarter. Compared to a year...
Builder sentiment remains muted from economic and geopolitical uncertainty, elevated mortgage rates and rising construction costs. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes inched up one point to 35 in August, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing...
Single-family permitting activity continued to weaken through the first half of 2026, while multifamily permitting remained somewhat stronger compared with the same period last year. Over the first six months of the year, the number of single-family permits issued nationwide reached 465,301. Compared with the...
Credit conditions on loans for residential Land Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) were still tightening in the second quarter of 2026, according to NAHB’s quarterly survey on AD&C Financing. The net easing index derived from the survey posted a second-quarter reading of -12.0 (the negative...
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...
