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 in June, according to newly released data from the U.S….
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 quarter of 2024. The market share of rental units of…
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 of risks appears to be shifting.” In particular, the central…
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 housing affordability worsened, the demand for home size has trended…
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 starts totaled 45,000. Over the last four quarters, townhouse construction starts totaled…
Existing home sales rebounded in July as mortgage rates retreated from the recent peak and home price growth slowed, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This rebound was also supported by inventory improvements, with housing supply at its highest level since May 2020. Despite the ever-so-slight improvement in housing affordability, higher mortgage rates…
While new homes remain largely unaffordable, builder efforts to improve housing affordability paid dividends in the second quarter of 2025, according to the latest data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Cost of Housing Index (CHI). The CHI results from the second quarter of 2025 show that a family earning the nation’s…
