National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog

Higher Energy Prices Increase Residential Construction Costs
Higher Energy Prices Increase Residential Construction Costs
Posted on
Energy input prices increased in March at their fastest pace since June of 2020 as the conflict in Iran shocked critical global supply chains. Building material prices, excluding energy, rose ...
Single-Family Permits Decline Sharply to Start 2026
Single-Family Permits Decline Sharply to Start 2026
Posted on
Residential construction activity began 2026 on a mixed note, with single-family permitting weakening significantly while multifamily activity remained relatively stable. Higher borrowing costs and affordability constraints continue to weigh on ...
Existing Home Sales Fell in March
Existing Home Sales Fell in March
Posted on
Existing home sales fell to a nine-month low in March as tight inventory, rising mortgage rates and growing concerns about the job market constrained sales activity. While inventory has improved ...
2025 Regional and State-Level GDP Data
2025 Regional and State-Level GDP Data
Posted on
In 2025, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded nationally, with growth recorded across all states and the District of Columbia. The increase ...
State-Level Employment Situation: January 2026
State-Level Employment Situation: January 2026
Posted on
The U.S. labor market began the year on firmer footing, with job growth rebounding in January after a subdued performance in 2025. Employment gains were widespread across most states, though ...
Inflation Surged to a Nearly Two-Year High in March
Inflation Surged to a Nearly Two-Year High in March
Posted on
Consumer prices surged to a nearly two-year high in March, driven by a spike in energy costs following the onset of the Iran war. This is the first CPI report ...
Remodeling Market Sentiment Edges Down but Remains Positive in First Quarter
Remodeling Market Sentiment Edges Down but Remains Positive in First Quarter
Posted on
In the first quarter of 2026, the NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI) posted a reading of 62, down two points compared to the previous quarter. Despite this decline, the overall reading ...
Remodelers Saw Profit Margin Gains in 2024
Remodelers Saw Profit Margin Gains in 2024
Posted on
Profitability for residential remodelers reached its highest level in more than two decades in 2024. Industry-wide profit benchmarks are important because they allow companies to evaluate their financial performance in ...
Rising Rates Weigh on Mortgage Activity
Rising Rates Weigh on Mortgage Activity
Posted on
Mortgage application activity decreased month-over-month as the 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, a measure of total mortgage application volume, declined 4.3% from ...
Which States and Construction Trades Depend the Most on Immigrant Workers?
Which States and Construction Trades Depend the Most on Immigrant Workers?
Posted on
Immigrants’ share of the construction workforce reached a record high in 2024, with foreign-born workers accounting for more than a quarter of the industry’s labor force (26.3%). The share is ...
Previous
Next

Subscribe

Stay updated on housing trends by subscribing to our blog via email.

Indices

View latest releases of NAHB indices such as the Housing Market Index.

Local Data

View our dashboard and blogs featuring metro-level data and more. 

Filter by Category

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 first quarter of 2023, there...

Stabilizing mortgage rates and a lack of resale inventory provided a boost for new home sales in April, even as builders continue to wrestle with rising costs stemming from shortages of transformers and other building materials and a persistent lack of construction workers. Sales of...

According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts remained elevated during the first quarter of 2023. For the first quarter, 127,000 multifamily residences started construction. Of this total, 123,000 were built-for-rental use. The market share of rental units...

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 April 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 253,000 in April, 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 notable drop for construction starts at the beginning of 2023. There were 36,000 total custom building...

Existing home sales fell to three-month low in April as limited inventory and fluctuating mortgage rates continued to weight on homebuyers, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). With inflation continuing to ease and rent growth expected to slow, existing home sales will rebound,...

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) redesigned its Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) in the first quarter of 2023 to make it easier to interpret and more similar to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for single-family housing. The MMS produces two separate indices....

According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the first quarter of 2023, single-family attached starts totaled 29,000, which is 19% lower than the first 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 14,000 single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR) starts during the first quarter...

A lack of existing inventory and stabilizing mortgage rates helped push single-family production up to the highest rate thus far in 2023 even as builders continue to deal with high construction costs, persistent labor shortages and tightening credit conditions for construction loans. Overall housing starts...

Limited existing inventory, which has put a renewed emphasis on new construction, resulted in a solid gain for builder confidence in May even as the industry continues to face several challenges, including building material supply chain disruptions and tightening credit conditions for construction loans. Builder...

Over the first three months of 2023, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 191,695. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is 31.1% below the March 2022 level of 278,189. Year-to-date ending in March, single-family permits declined in all four regions....

According to the Federal Reserve Board’s April 2023 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS)—conducted for bank lending activity over the first quarter of 2023—banks reported that lending standards tightened for most residential real estate (RRE) and commercial real estate (CRE) loan categories. Demand for RRE...

According to the latest Producer Price Index report, the prices of inputs to residential construction less energy (i.e., building materials) decreased 0.2% in April 2023 (not seasonally adjusted). The index has gained 0.5%, year-to-date, which is the smallest April YTD increase since it climbed 0.3%...

Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending May 5th, total mortgage activity increased 6.3% from the previous week and the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate fell two basis points to 6.48%. The FRM rate has risen 18 basis points over...

Consumer prices in April saw the smallest year-over-year gain since April 2021. This marked the tenth consecutive month of deceleration and the first time the rate has fallen below 5% in two years. While the shelter index (housing inflation) experienced its smallest monthly gain since...

The NAHB’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI) survey has asked questions about Aging-in-Place (AIP) periodically, beginning in 2004. According to results from the Q1 2023 survey, 63 percent of professional remodelers undertake projects designed to allow homeowners to Age-in-Place, down from 77 percent in Q4 2018....

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Email Frequency