Mortgage application activity increased month-over-month as the 30-year fixed mortgage rates reached a three-year low. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, a measure of total mortgage application volume, increased 1.5% from January on a seasonally adjusted basis and was 56.3% higher than a...
The U.S. labor market weakened in February, as payroll employment declined and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%. The cooling labor market could place the Federal Reserve in a challenging position as policymakers weigh slower job growth against inflation pressures from rising oil prices. Wage...
Home builders are keenly aware of the complex long-term outlook ahead for the home building industry. A recent NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI survey asked builders to assess the impact of 14 major trends and forces on the health of the industry and housing demand over the...
Though new and existing homes remain largely unaffordable, the needle moved slightly in the right direction in the second half of 2025, according to the latest data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Cost of Housing Index (CHI). The CHI results from...
Mortgage rates continued to decline in February, dipping below 6% in the last week of February. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.05% last month, 5 basis points (bps) lower than January. Meanwhile, the average 15-year rate declined only a basis point...
U.S. house prices continued to rise at the close of 2025, though the pace of growth has slowed compared with the rapid gains of previous years. Elevated mortgage rates, affordability challenges, and ongoing economic uncertainty have restrained buyer demand, resulting in wide variations in local...
The percentage of new apartment units that were absorbed within three months after completion was unchanged for new units completed in the second quarter, according to the Census Bureau’s latest release of the Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units (SOMA). The survey covers...
Private residential construction spending was up 1.5% for the last month of 2025. This modest gain was driven primarily by increased spending on home improvements and single-family construction. Despite this increase, total spending remained 1.3% lower than a year ago, reflecting the continued impact of...
Residential improvement activity remained solid in 2024, though growth has moderated from the surge seen in 2022. The market continues to be supported by an aging housing stock, elevated homeowner equity, and a growing need for aging-in-place improvements. According to the 2024 Home Mortgage Disclosure...
Private fixed investment for student dormitories was up 1.5% in the last quarter of 2025, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of $3.9 billion. This gain followed three consecutive quarterly declines before rebounding in the final two quarters of the year. The elevated interest rates continued to weigh on student housing construction. Despite the quarterly gain, private fixed investment in dorms was 1.3% lower than a year ago Private fixed investment in student housing experienced...
Residential building material prices rose at a slower rate in January, according to the latest Producer Price Index release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was the first decline in the rate of price growth since April of last year. Metal products continue to...
Home improvement activity has remained elevated in the post-pandemic period, but both the volume of loan applications and the age profile of borrowers have shifted in notable ways. Data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), analyzed by NAHB, show that total home improvement loan...
NAHB recently released its 2026 Priced-Out Analysis, highlighting the housing affordability challenge. While previous posts discussed the impacts of rising home prices and interest rates on affordability, this post focuses on the related U.S. housing affordability pyramid. The pyramid reveals that 52% of households (70...
Housing’s share of the economy was 16.0% in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the latest estimates of GDP produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This share is down from 16.1% in the third quarter and is also lower than 16.3% as registered...
Reversing the post-pandemic rebound, the headship rates among young adults (the share of the population heading their own households) declined in 2024, according to NAHB’s analysis of the American Community Survey (ACS) data. Even so, the current rate of 43.7% marks a significant improvement from...
Housing affordability remains a critical challenge nationwide, and mortgage rates continue to play a central role in shaping homebuying power. Although rates have declined from the recent peak of about 7.6% in 2023 to around 6.01% as of February 19,2026, they remain elevated relative to...
New home sales ended 2025 on a mixed but resilient note, signaling steady underlying demand despite ongoing affordability and supply constraints. The latest data released today (and delayed because of the government shutdown in fall of 2025) indicate that while month-to-month activity shows a small...
Real GDP growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter of 2025 as the historic government shutdown weighed on economic activity. While consumer spending continued to drive growth, federal government spending subtracted over a full percentage point from overall growth. According to the “advance” estimate released...
