Number of Bathrooms in New Single-Family Homes in 2024
Single-family homes started in 2024 typically had two full bathrooms, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Construction. Homes with three full bathrooms continued to have the second largest share of starts at around 23%. Meanwhile, both homes with four full bathrooms or more and homes with one bathroom or less made up […]
House Price Appreciation by State and Metro Area: Third Quarter 2025
House prices continued to rise in the third quarter of 2025, though the pace of growth slowed as elevated mortgage rates, affordability challenges, and persistent economic uncertainty weighed on consumer demand. After several years of rapid growth, Hawaii and 38 metro areas saw house price declines this quarter, highlighting significant regional variations in market conditions. […]
Single-Family Construction Loan Volume Rises in the Third Quarter
Single-family construction lending picked up in the third quarter, amidst the overall cooling lending environment. Loan balances for 1-4 family construction grew to $91.2 billion in the third quarter, registering the first annual increase in over two years. However, across all acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) loans, the total volume fell for the seventh straight […]
About 7% of New Homes Are Teardowns
In 2024, 6.9% of new single-family detached homes were teardowns (structures torn down and rebuilt in older neighborhoods), and another 20.1% were built on infill lots in older neighborhoods, according to the latest Builder Practices Survey (BPS) conducted by Home Innovation Research Labs. The BPS places new homes in one of four development categories. In addition […]
Property Taxes by State – 2024
Nationally, across the 87 million owner-occupied homes in the U.S., the average amount of annual real estate taxes paid in 2024 was $4,271, according to NAHB analysis of the 2024 American Community Survey. Homeowners in New Jersey continued to pay the highest real estate taxes, paying an average of $9,767, $2,194 more than the next […]
Share of New Homes with Decks Edges Lower
The share of new homes with decks edged down from 17.6% in 2023 to a new all-time low of 17.4% in 2024, according to NAHB tabulation of data from the HUD/Census Bureau Survey of Construction (SOC). Over the longer term, the share of new homes with decks has been declining steadily since reaching a peak […]
Building Material Prices Continued to Rise in September
Aggregate residential building material prices rose at their fastest pace since January 2023 in the latest Producer Price Index release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Input energy prices increased for the first time in over a year, while service price growth remained lower than goods. The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.3% […]
Where Renters and Owners Face the Highest Cost Burdens
The housing affordability crisis continues to disproportionately affect renters, with more than half of renter households experiencing high-cost burdens — i.e., paying 30% or more of their income on rent and utilities. At the same time, current home owners, buoyed by significant home equity gains and locked in by below-market mortgage rates, are in a […]
September Jobs Report Highlights a Cooling but Still Growing Labor Market
The long-delayed September jobs report revealed that the U.S. economy added 119,000 jobs while the unemployment rate climbed to its highest level in nearly four years. Combined with downward revisions to previous months, this month’s data indicates a slowing of the U.S. labor market, though one that is still expanding. With the October jobs report […]
Existing Home Sales Rise in October
Existing home sales rose to an eight-month high in October as buyers took advantage of lower mortgage rates, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Resale inventory improved from a year ago but remained below pre-pandemic levels. Relatively tight supply continued to push home prices higher and challenge housing affordability. These affordability pressures vary […]
Affordability Impacts: Young Adults Are Once Again Moving Back Home
The share of young adults living with parents increased in 2024, interrupting the post-pandemic trend of moving out of parental homes. Nearly a third (32.5%) of adults ages 18-34 lived with their parents according to the latest 2024 American Community Survey (ACS). This is up from 31.8% in 2023, although it remains below the pre-pandemic […]
Location, Location, Location: How Place and Neighborhood Shape Home Values
The value of a single-family home depends not only on its physical features but also on its location and neighborhood context. In this second part of our two-part series, we examine how geography and neighborhood quality further influence single-family detached home values across the United States. Not surprisingly, location remains one of the strongest drivers […]
Builder Sentiment Relatively Flat in November as Market Headwinds Persist
Market uncertainty exacerbated by the government shutdown along with economic uncertainty stemming from tariffs and rising construction costs kept builder confidence firmly in negative territory in November. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes rose one point to 38 in November, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing […]
August Private Residential Construction Spending Edges Higher
Private residential construction spending inched up 0.8% in August, continuing steady growth since June 2025. This modest increase was primarily driven by more spending on multifamily construction and home improvements. However, total spending was 2% lower than a year ago, as the housing sector continues to navigate the economic uncertainty stemming from ongoing tariff concerns and elevated mortgage rates. According to the latest U.S. Census construction spending data, single-family construction spending slipped 0.4% in August, in line with the soft builder sentiment reflected in the August NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Compared to a year ago, single-family construction spending decreased by 1.1%. Improvement spending (remodeling) posted […]
What Home Features Add the Most Value?
The value of a single-family home is shaped by many factors, but its physical features remain among one of the most influential. Using the latest 2023 American Housing Survey (AHS), this study focuses on which home features genuinely boost single-family detached home values and by how much. Key findings show that the overall square footage […]
Credit Conditions for Builders Continue to Be Tight
Credit conditions on loans for residential Land Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) were still tightening in the third quarter of 2025, according to NAHB’s quarterly survey on AD&C Financing. The net easing index derived from the survey posted a reading of -11.0 (the negative number indicating that credit tightened since the previous quarter). This is […]
Unchanged Lending Conditions for Residential Mortgages in Third Quarter
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 multifamily was essentially unchanged. Demand for both CRE categories was essentially unchanged for the quarter. Two […]
Adjustable-Rate Mortgage Applications Rise
All types of mortgage activity rose on a year-over-year basis in October, supported by recent declines in interest rates. Notably, adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) applications more than doubled from a year ago, and refinancing activity continued to strengthen. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, a measure of total mortgage application volume, fell 7.7% from […]