National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog

Inflation Eased in January
Inflation Eased in January
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Inflation eased to an eight-month low in January, confirming a continued downward trend. Though most Consumer Price Index (CPI) components have resolved shutdown-related distortions from last fall, the shelter index ...
Existing Home Sales Retreat Amid Low Inventory
Existing Home Sales Retreat Amid Low Inventory
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Existing home sales fell in January to a more than two-year low after December’s strong rebound, as tight inventory continued to push home prices higher and winter storms weighed on ...
Residential Building Worker Wages Slow in 2025 Amid Cooling Housing Activity
Residential Building Worker Wages Slow in 2025 Amid Cooling Housing Activity
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Wage growth for residential building workers moderated notably in 2025, reflecting a broader cooling in housing activity and construction labor demand. According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau ...
Low-Rise Multifamily Shows Strength at End of 2025; Other Segments Weak
Low-Rise Multifamily Shows Strength at End of 2025; Other Segments Weak
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Even though garden/low-rise continues to be strong, overall confidence in the market for new multifamily housing decreased year-over-year in the fourth quarter, according to the Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) released ...
Job Growth Starts Year on Strong Note: However, 2025 Revisions Offer Caution
Job Growth Starts Year on Strong Note: However, 2025 Revisions Offer Caution
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The U.S. labor market began 2026 at a surprisingly strong pace, while newly released benchmark revisions show that job growth in 2025 was considerably weaker than previously reported. Nonfarm payrolls ...
Credit Card Balances Rise in Q4 2025 
Credit Card Balances Rise in Q4 2025 
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Overall consumer credit continued to expand in the fourth quarter of 2025, with growth in both nonrevolving and revolving credit. Nonrevolving credit, primarily student and auto loans, accounts for 74% ...
Weaker Demand, Unchanged Lending Conditions for Residential Mortgages in Fourth Quarter
Weaker Demand, Unchanged Lending Conditions for Residential Mortgages in Fourth Quarter
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Lending standards for most types of residential mortgages were essentially unchanged but overall demand was weaker in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the recent release of the Senior ...
Lower Rates Lift Mortgage Activity at Start of the Year
Lower Rates Lift Mortgage Activity at Start of the Year
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Mortgage application activity rose sharply in January, driven primarily by a surge in refinancing activity as mortgage rates declined to a new low. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite ...
The Size of the Housing Shortage: 2024 Data
The Size of the Housing Shortage: 2024 Data
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Persistently low homeowner and rental vacancy rates indicate that the U.S. housing market remains structurally undersupplied. Comparing 2024 abnormally low vacancy rates with long-run equilibrium levels across U.S. metropolitan markets, ...
Job Openings Fall as Labor Market Weakens
Job Openings Fall as Labor Market Weakens
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Running counter to the data for the full economy, the count of open, unfilled positions in the construction industry increased in December, per the delayed Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings ...
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With tax preparation season well underway, it is a good time to examine the use of the home office deduction. Often cited as a “red flag” for tax audits, the home office deduction is a legitimate business deduction particularly important for certain professionals and small...

Across the United States, builders are often charged impact fees by local governments to help pay for infrastructure associated with children in new residential developments entering the public education system. Therefore, builders have an interest in ensuring that the number of school age children in...

The 2015 American Community Survey data shows that New Jersey still leads the nation with the highest average annual real estate tax (RET) bill of $8,180—$7,528 more than RETs paid by Alabama’s homeowners. The overall distribution remained roughly unchanged since 2014, as the composition of...

More NAHB members are familiar with and are using Building Information Modeling (BIM) for their businesses, a recently conducted NAHB survey shows. BIM is a process for managing the information produced during a construction project, in a common format, from the earliest feasibility stage through...

A recent NAHB study shows that the median size of a subdivision in the United States is 25 total acres, and the median number of housing units in a subdivision is 50. The results are based on a survey of development projects currently under way...

The total number of residential construction firms in the country (single-family builders, multifamily builders, and residential remodelers) dropped to around 689,000 in 2012, 12% lower than in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners (collected only in years ending in ‘2’...

Homeowners saw their tax bills trimmed by more than 0 billion in 2014 according to estimates by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) and NAHB analysis. The mortgage interest deduction (MID) alone accounted for $72.4 billion in tax savings, while the real estate tax deduction...

As it does every year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released an update to its 10-year baseline budget projections published in January. Individuals as well as businesses of all sizes should take note; the picture that CBO paints of the future of federal government...

A new NAHB Economics research article shows that the effective real estate tax rates vary substantially across and within counties, with the highest rate area displaying rates that are often multiple times higher than the lowest rate areas within the same county. An “effective property...

NAHB’s recently published Housing Preferences of the Boomer Generation shows that homebuyers in the Baby Boom Generation want a suburban neighborhood consisting of all single-family detached homes more often than any other community feature (of the 19 listed), and nearly 80 percent prefer a cul...

Much like it counts people every 10 years, the US government counts American businesses every 5 years. This is done through the Economic Census, which is conducted by the Census Bureau in years ending in 2 and 7. Results for the residential construction industry for...

A previous post discussed how the current shortage of subcontractors in residential construction is becoming more acute. This is significant, because subcontractors are very important to the construction of the typical home. Periodically, NAHB has found it worthwhile to remind the public just how important....

As a share of total taxes collected, real estate property taxes in the United States are responsible for a relatively high share of total government revenues. According to statistics produced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average share of total government...

In the United States, the majority of households own their home. NAHB analysis of international data indicates that the same is true across the European Union (EU). The vast majority of European households own their home as well. However, the incidence of homeownership across the...

Home building, remodeling and the overall residential construction industry support many types of jobs. BLS data from the 2014 Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Survey, and NAHB analysis, provide a count of these occupation classes. The OES survey defines employment as the number of workers who...

A recent Eye on Housing post reported on NAHB’s 800th customized local impact study. In addition to studies customized to a particular area, NAHB has traditionally produced a “typical local” report using national average inputs. This report—showing the jobs, income and taxes generated by residential...

New NAHB research shows that millennials tend to buy homes that are smaller, older, and less expensive than homes bought by older generations. Being the youngest home buyers with little or no accumulated wealth also affects how millennials shop and buy their homes. The majority...

A new study of California affordable housing developments provides important findings concerning the role and benefits of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). The affordable housing credit ensures a supply of equity financing for the development of needed rental housing. The report was prepared for...

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