National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog

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 ...
Overall Housing Starts Inch Lower in 2025
Overall Housing Starts Inch Lower in 2025
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Despite a strong finish in December, single-family home building dipped in 2025 as persistent affordability challenges continued to weigh on the market. Total housing starts for 2025 were 1.36 million, ...
How Housing Affordability Conditions Vary Across States and Metro Areas
How Housing Affordability Conditions Vary Across States and Metro Areas
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The NAHB 2026 priced-out estimates show that the housing affordability challenge is widespread across the country. In 39 states and the District of Columbia, over 65% of households are priced ...
Builder Sentiment Edges Lower on Affordability Concerns
Builder Sentiment Edges Lower on Affordability Concerns
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Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell one point to 36 in February, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index ...
How Rising Costs Affect Home Affordability
How Rising Costs Affect Home Affordability
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Housing affordability remains a critical issue, with 65% of U.S. households unable to afford a median-priced new home in 2026. When mortgage rates are elevated, even a small increase in ...
Cost of Credit for Builders & Developers at Its Lowest Since 2022
Cost of Credit for Builders & Developers at Its Lowest Since 2022
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The cost of credit for residential construction and development declined in the fourth quarter of 2025,  according to NAHB’s quarterly survey on Land Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) Financing. In ...
Inflation Eased in January
Inflation Eased in January
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Inflation eased to an eight-month low in January, confirming a continued downward trend. Though most Consumer Price Index (CPI) components have resolved shutdown-related distortions from last fall, the shelter index ...
Existing Home Sales Retreat Amid Low Inventory
Existing Home Sales Retreat Amid Low Inventory
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Existing home sales fell in January to a more than two-year low after December’s strong rebound, as tight inventory continued to push home prices higher and winter storms weighed on ...
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The residential remodeling market has grown rapidly in the past few years, mainly fueled by changes in housing and lifestyle decisions during the pandemic period. According to National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA), expenditures for residential home improvements soared 13% to $328 billion in 2021,...

Data from the Census Bureau’s latest Survey of Market Absorptions of New Multifamily Units (SOMA) indicates that demand for newly completed multifamily units remains solid as mortgage rates continue to climb. Only an estimated 39% of the 82,310 unfurnished apartment units completed in the first...

Low existing inventory and solid demand more than offset rising mortgage rates and elevated construction costs to boost new home sales last month. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in July increased 4.4% to a 714,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from a downwardly revised reading...

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 disappointed since the Great Recession. For the second quarter of 2023, there...

Existing home sales in July fell to the lowest level since January as limited inventory and higher mortgage rates continued to weight on homebuyers, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Low resale inventory and strong demand continued to drive up existing home prices,...

According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts remained elevated during the second quarter of 2023. For the second quarter, 138,000 multifamily residences started construction. Of this total, 135,000 were built-for-rent. The market share of rental units of...

Between 2021 and 2022, the state of Georgia gained 124,827 residents. This was the fourth largest population gain in the U.S. and one of only four states to have a nominal population increase above 100,000. In percentage terms, Georgia’s population grew at 1.2% between this...

An expected impact of the virus crisis is a need for more residential space, as people use 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 housing affordability...

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 36 states in July compared to the previous month, while 14 states and the District of Columbia lost jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 187,000 in July, following a gain of...

NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates custom home building gained market share during recent quarters but experienced a drop for construction starts. There were 49,000 total custom building starts during the second quarter of...

Confidence in the market for new multifamily housing was in positive territory for the second quarter, according to results from the Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The MMS produces two separate indices. The Multifamily Production Index...

According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the second quarter of 2023, single-family attached starts totaled 38,000, which is flat relative to the second quarter of 2022. Nonetheless, over the last four quarters,...

Single-family built-for-rent construction has cooled as investor interest has pulled back on tighter financial conditions. According to NAHB’s analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, there were approximately 20,000 single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR) starts during the second quarter...

Every year, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) conducts a member census to better understand the composition and characteristics of the people who belong to its organization. In 2022, 35% of NAHB’s members were builders—those whose primary business is single-family home building, multifamily building,...

A lack of existing inventory and solid demand for housing helped offset rising mortgage rates and push single-family production higher in July, even as builders continue to grapple with elevated construction and financing costs as well as a lack of skilled labor. Overall housing starts...

After steadily rising for seven consecutive months, builder confidence retreated in August as rising mortgage rates nearing 7% (per Freddie Mac) and stubbornly high shelter inflation have further eroded housing affordability and put a damper on consumer demand. Builder confidence in the market for newly...

Over the first six months of 2023, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 449,226. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is 20.9% below the June 2022 level of 567,798. Year-to-date ending in June, single-family permits declined in all four regions....

According to the latest Producer Price Index report, the price level of inputs to residential construction less energy (i.e., building materials) edged up 0.2% in July (not seasonally adjusted). Building materials price growth has slowed considerably in 2023 with an average monthly increase of 0.2%–down...

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