National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog

State-Level Employment Situation: September 2025
State-Level Employment Situation: September 2025
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In September 2025, nonfarm payroll employment was largely unchanged across states on a monthly basis, with a limited number of states seeing statistically significant increases or decreases. This reflects generally ...
Existing Home Sales Edge Higher in November
Existing Home Sales Edge Higher in November
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Existing home sales rose for the third consecutive month in November as lower mortgage rates continued to boost home sales, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). However, the ...
Lumber Capacity Lower Midway Through 2025
Lumber Capacity Lower Midway Through 2025
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Sawmill production has remained essentially flat over the past two years, according to the Federal Reserve G.17 Industrial Production report. This most recent data release contained an annual revision, which ...
Inflation Slows in November (with a Caveat)
Inflation Slows in November (with a Caveat)
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Inflation unexpectedly eased in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) latest report. This data release was originally scheduled for December 10 but was delayed due to the ...
Homelessness Increased to a Record-High in 2024 
Homelessness Increased to a Record-High in 2024 
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In 2024, the number of people experiencing homelessness increased to the highest estimate in the history of HUD’s Annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count. Approximately 771,500 people were recorded as living in an emergency shelter, a transitional housing program, or in unsheltered ...
Job Market Shows Signs of Cooling in November
Job Market Shows Signs of Cooling in November
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In November, job growth slowed, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, its highest level in four years. At the same time, job gains for the previous two months (August ...
Builder Sentiment Inches Higher but Ends the Year in Negative Territory
Builder Sentiment Inches Higher but Ends the Year in Negative Territory
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Builder confidence inched higher to end the year but still remains well into negative territory as builders continue to grapple with rising construction costs, tariff and economic uncertainty, and many ...
Homeownership Rate Inches Up to 65.3% 
Homeownership Rate Inches Up to 65.3% 
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The latest homeownership rate rose to 65.3% in the third quarter of 2025, according to the Census’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). Despite this quarterly increase, the trend continues to reflect ...
No Risk-Free Path: Fed Eases Monetary Policy
No Risk-Free Path: Fed Eases Monetary Policy
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The central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) cut rates a third and final time in 2025, reducing the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points ...
Construction Labor Market Stable
Construction Labor Market Stable
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The count of open, unfilled positions in the construction industry was relatively unchanged in October, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The current level ...
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Private residential construction spending declined 0.6% in January, as spending on single-family construction decreased 1.7%. It declined on the eighth month in a row amid elevated mortgage interest rates. Moreover, private residential construction is 3.9% lower compared to a year ago. The monthly decline is...

Residential construction loan volume reached a post-Great Recession high during the fourth quarter of 2022, as home building activity and new home sales remained below trend. Outstanding builder loan balances are rising as development debt is being held longer as new homes remain in inventory...

Seasonally adjusted home prices continued to fall in December and have declined for six consecutive months due to high mortgage rates and economic uncertainty. Locally, all 20 metro areas, reported by S&P Dow Jones Indices, experienced negative home price appreciation in December. The S&P CoreLogic...

Data from the Census Bureau’s latest Survey of Market Absorptions of New Multifamily Units (SOMA) indicates that the multifamily market continues to have high demand with apartment completions reaching their highest level since the third quarter of 2021. The absorption rate of new condominiums reached...

Declining mortgage rates and home prices in January, coupled with home builders use of sales incentives, helped boost new home sales last month. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated sales of newly built, single-family homes in January...

While the two main confidence indexes for multifamily housing increased slightly in the fourth quarter, they both remain in negative territory, according to results from the Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The MMS produces two separate...

The missing middle construction sector includes development of medium-density housing, such as townhouses, duplexes and other small multifamily properties. While townhouse construction has trended higher in recent quarters, the multifamily segment of the missing middle (apartments in 2- to 4-unit properties) has disappointed. For 2021,...

According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts remained elevated during the fourth quarter of 2022. For the fourth quarter, 133,000 multifamily residences started construction. For 2022 as whole, 525,000 rental apartments started construction. The market share of...

As elevated mortgage rates and tight inventory continue to weaken housing demand, the volume of existing home sales declined for a twelfth consecutive month as of January, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This is the longest run of declines since 1999. While...

An expected impact of the pandemic was a need for more residential space, as people use homes for more purposes including work. During the housing boom after covid, this led to a rise for new single-family home size. However, as the housing market weakens on...

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 2022. There were 44,000 total custom building starts during the fourth quarter of the year. This marks a 10% decline compared...

NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that cash purchases made 11.2% of new home sales in the fourth quarter of 2022—the largest share since 1990. The share of cash purchases has climbed...

According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the fourth quarter of 2022, single-family attached starts totaled 37,000, which is 8% lower than the fourth quarter of 2021. Over the course of 2022, townhouse...

After four consecutive declines, the producer price index (PPI) for inputs to residential construction less energy (i.e. building materials) rose 0.9% in January 2023 (not seasonally adjusted) according to the latest PPI report. Price growth of goods inputs to residential construction, including energy, gained 1.4%...

Single-family built-for-rent construction ended 2022 strong with a rising total market share. According to NAHB’s analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, there were approximately 17,000 single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR) starts during the fourth quarter of 2022. This...

During the fourth quarter of 2022, credit continued to become less available and generally more costly on loans for Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) according to NAHB’s Survey on AD&C Financing. To analyze credit availability, responses from the NAHB survey are used to construct a...

Due to elevated mortgage rates and high construction costs, overall housing starts decreased 4.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.31 million units in January, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. Although rising...

Two consecutive solid monthly gains for builder confidence, spurred in part by easing mortgage rates, signal that the housing market may be turning a corner even as builders continue to contend with high construction costs and building material supply chain logjams. Builder confidence in the...

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