National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog

Amid Supply-Side Inflation Pressures, The Fed Holds
Amid Supply-Side Inflation Pressures, The Fed Holds
Posted on
The Federal Reserve held the federal funds rate at a target range of 3.5% to 3.75% at the conclusion of its July policy meeting. There were three dissenting votes on ...
How a Home Purchase Boosts Consumer Spending
How a Home Purchase Boosts Consumer Spending
Posted on
The housing market has changed greatly since the COVID-19 pandemic, along with consumer spending behaviors. During this period, housing demand surged, home prices appreciated rapidly, inflation increased, supply-chain disruptions happened, ...
Median Lot Value Stabilizes as Regional Trends Diverge
Median Lot Value Stabilizes as Regional Trends Diverge
Posted on
Following a multi-year run of record highs, the national median lot value for single-family detached spec homes largely stabilized in 2025. According to NAHB’s analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), the ...
Share of Apartments Built in Buildings with 50+ Units Moves Higher in 2025
Share of Apartments Built in Buildings with 50+ Units Moves Higher in 2025
Posted on
Following the highest number of multifamily completions in nearly 40 years in 2024, completions declined in 2025 to 484,000, according to NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction. ...
New Home Sales Edge Higher as Affordability Challenges Persist
New Home Sales Edge Higher as Affordability Challenges Persist
Posted on
Affordability challenges continued to weigh on the new-home market in June, as elevated mortgage rates, rising inflation and broader economic uncertainty kept many prospective buyers on the sidelines. Sales of ...
Acquisitions Increasing Among Home Builders
Acquisitions Increasing Among Home Builders
Posted on
At the start of 2026, most home builders predicted that high mortgage rates and hesitancy among buyers would be their toughest challenges this year. They weren’t wrong: the 30-year mortgage ...
What Do Home Buyers Purchase After They Move In
What Do Home Buyers Purchase After They Move In
Posted on
Buying a home typically generates a wave of consumer spending beyond the purchase of the home itself. Following a home purchase, households often buy appliances and furnishings and undertake remodeling ...
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

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....

According to the latest May 2022 Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) and analysis by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), half of payroll workers in construction earn more than $54,540 and the top 25% make at least $77,030. In...

According to the Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit report, the growth of total consumer credit outstanding slowed from 7.4% to 5.4% (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the first quarter of 2023. Nonrevolving (excluding real estate debt) and revolving debt grew 3.1% and 12.3%, respectively,...

Job gains continued in April, despite rising interest rates and a slowing economy. After a revised 165,000 job gain in March, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 253,000 in April, and the unemployment rate declined to 3.4% from 3.5% in March. In April, on a...

An earlier post revealed that 71% of buyers who were actively engaged in the process of finding a home in the first quarter of 2023 have spent 3+ months searching for a home without success. The inability to find an affordable home remains the most...

The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee raised the federal funds target rate by 25 basis points at the conclusion of its May meeting. Although the communication from the Fed did not explicitly indicate that they are done tightening, language used in their statement signals the...

The Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (CPS/HVS) reported the U.S. homeownership rate at 66% in the first quarter of 2023, amid persistently tight housing supply. The homeownership rate remained statistically unchanged from the fourth quarter reading (65.9%). It is 0.6 percentage points higher than the...

The count of open, unfilled jobs for the overall economy declined again in March, falling to 9.6 million, after an 11.2 million reading in December, which was the highest level since July. The count of open jobs was 12 million a year ago in March...

Private residential construction spending inched down 0.2% in March, as spending on single-family construction decreased 0.8%. Spending on private residential construction declined for the tenth month in a row amid elevated mortgage interest rates. Consequently, this spending is 10% lower compared to a year ago....

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Email Frequency