Job growth slowed sharply in August, and the unemployment rate rose to its highest level in nearly four years. The latest jobs report, along with downward revisions to previous months’ data, indicates a continued cooling in the U.S. labor market. This softening trend is likely...
Although shortages are not quite as widespread as they were in 2021, obtaining lots remains a challenge for many builders, according to recent results from the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) survey. In special questions on the May 2025 HMI survey, 38% of single-family...
Almost all of new single-family homes started in 2024 used either an air/ground source heat pump or a forced air system for the primary heating equipment (97%), according to the Census’s Survey of Construction. Additionally, 20% percent of homes also used a secondary type of...
The count of open, unfilled positions in the construction industry increased in July, per the June Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) as the national labor market cooled. The number of open jobs for the overall economy decreased from 7.36...
House price growth continued to slow in the second quarter of 2025, as the housing market faces mounting pressure from high mortgage rates, elevated inventory, and persistent economic uncertainty. After years of rapid growth, the District of Columbia and 27 metro areas recorded modest house...
Private residential construction spending inched up 0.1% in July, registering the first monthly gain after six consecutive declines. This modest increase was primarily driven by more spending on single-family construction and home improvements. Despite this increase, total spending was 5.3% lower than a year ago,...
Single-family construction declined in the second quarter of 2025 for almost all tracked markets, according to the NAHB Home Building Geography Index (HBGI). Meanwhile, multifamily construction continued to expand in low population density markets, which have shown remarkable strength due to for-sale affordability challenges. The...
The percentage of new apartment units that were absorbed within three months after completion rose in the second quarter, according to the Census Bureau’s latest release of the Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units (SOMA). The survey covers new units in multifamily residential...
Average mortgage rates in August continued their steady decline and are now at their lowest rate since last November. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.59%, 13 basis points (bps) lower than July. Meanwhile, the 15-year rate declined 15 bps to 5.71%....
Wood framing continues to dominate the U.S. single-family home construction market, according to NAHB analysis of 2024 Census Bureau data. In 2024, wood framing accounted for 94% of all completed single-family homes, reinforcing its position as the leading construction method. Concrete-framed homes represented 5% of...
Despite historically low self-employment rates and the rising market share of top ten builders, residential construction remains an industry dominated by independent entrepreneurs, with nearly 80% of home builders and specialty trade contractor firms being self-employed independent contractors. Even among firms with paid employees, the...
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) conducts an annual member census to better understand the composition and characteristics of the people who belong to its organization. In 2024, 35% of NAHB’s membership was comprised of builder members—single-family and multifamily builders, residential and commercial remodelers,...
The missing middle construction sector includes development of medium-density housing, such as townhouses, duplexes and other small multifamily properties. The multifamily segment of the missing middle (apartments in 2- to 4-unit properties) has generally disappointed since the Great Recession. For the second quarter of 2025, there were...
High mortgage rates, rising construction costs and economic uncertainty continue to deter many potential home buyers during this summer season. Sales of newly built single-family homes edged 0.6% lower in July, falling to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 652,000 from an upwardly revised reading...
According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts increased during the second quarter of 2025. For the quarter, 109,000 multifamily residences started construction. Of this total, 102,000 were built-for-rent. This built-for-rent total was 21% higher than the second...
While acknowledging that ongoing uncertainty complicates policymaking, Federal Reserve Chair Powell gave a mostly green light for monetary policy easing in September, following a policy pause that has lasted since the end of last year. Noting that inflation remains elevated, Powell stated that “the balance...
An expected impact of the virus crisis was a need for more residential space, as people used homes for more purposes including work. Home size correspondingly increased in 2021 as interest rates reached historic lows. However, as interest rates increased in 2022 and 2023, and...
Townhouse construction expanded more than 9 percent on a year-over-year basis per data from the second quarter of 2025. According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the second quarter of 2025, single-family attached...
