National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog

Homeownership Rate Edges Down to 65.3% 
Homeownership Rate Edges Down to 65.3% 
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The latest homeownership rate declined to 65.3% in the first quarter of 2026, according to the Census’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). While this was a modest quarterly decrease, the broader ...
The Silver Tsunami Isn’t Landing Where It’s Needed Most
The Silver Tsunami Isn’t Landing Where It’s Needed Most
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The “silver tsunami” refers to the wave of housing inventory expected as older homeowners downsize or transition out of their homes. According to the latest American Community Survey, there are ...
State-Level Employment Situation: February 2026
State-Level Employment Situation: February 2026
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February’s labor market data point to a notable pullback in employment, with job losses concentrated across a majority of states and only modest gains elsewhere. While January showed solid momentum, ...
Population Growth and Housing Supply Dynamics at the County Level in 2025
Population Growth and Housing Supply Dynamics at the County Level in 2025
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U.S. population growth slowed notably in the latest Vintage 2025 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, with the nation expanding by just 0.5% in 20251, roughly half the pace ...
Construction Workforce Shifts: Fewer Tradesmen, More White-Collar Jobs
Construction Workforce Shifts: Fewer Tradesmen, More White-Collar Jobs
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The long-running shift in the construction labor force away from construction trades and toward management, business, and technical roles is ongoing and gaining momentum, according to NAHB’s analysis of the ...
Count of Second Homes Declines in 2024
Count of Second Homes Declines in 2024
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In 2024, the number of second homes in the U.S. was 6.2 million, accounting for 4.3% of the nation’s housing stock, according to NAHB estimates. This reflects a modest decline ...
Young Adults Report More Interest in the Construction Trades: 2026 Survey
Young Adults Report More Interest in the Construction Trades: 2026 Survey
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NAHB estimates the U.S. has a structural housing deficit of 1.2 million units. Among the myriad of headwinds home builders face trying to close that gap is the industry’s chronic ...
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In 2005, Congress established several energy-efficiency tax incentives related to housing that benefit new-home buyers and remodeling homeowners. These policies included the tax code section 25C credit for retrofitting/remodeling existing homes, and the 25D credit for the installation of power production property in new and...

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...

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