Real GDP growth rebounded in the second quarter, driven by a turnaround in the trade balance and stronger consumer spending. According to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annual rate of 3.0% in the second quarter of 2025, following a 0.5% contraction…
Overall consumer credit continued to rise in 2025, but the pace of growth remains slow. Student loan balances also rose year-over-year as borrowers resumed payments following the end of pandemic-era relief. Meanwhile, credit card and auto loan debt both experienced their slowest annual growth rates in years. Despite historically high interest rates, credit card and…
Inflation held steady at 2.7% in July as food and energy prices remained subdued and offset increases in service prices, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) latest report. Core inflation, which exclude volatile food and energy, picked up to its largest monthly increase since January and fastest annual pace since February. Meanwhile, housing…
The total market share of non-site built single-family homes (modular and panelized) was just 3% of single-family homes in 2024, according to completion data from the Census Bureau Survey of Construction data and NAHB analysis. This is the same as the 3% share in 2023. This share has been steadily declining since the early-2000s despite…
In 2024, 73% of new single-family homes started were built on slab foundations, according to NAHB analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC). Although this was a modest year-over-year increase of 0.6 percentage points, it continues the upward trend in slab adoption, widening the gap between slabs and other foundation types. In…
In the second quarter of 2025, overall demand for residential mortgages was weaker, while lending standards for most types of residential mortgages were essentially unchanged, according to the recent release of the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS). For commercial real estate (CRE) loans, lending standards for construction & development were modestly tighter, while demand was…
Confidence in the market increased for multifamily developers in the second quarter of 2025, according to 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 (MPI) was up two points year-over-year to 46. The Multifamily Occupancy Index (MOI) had…
