National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog

U.S. Economy Loses 92,000 Jobs in February
U.S. Economy Loses 92,000 Jobs in February
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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 ...
Builders Identify Key Long-Term Forces Shaping Housing Demand and Industry Health
Builders Identify Key Long-Term Forces Shaping Housing Demand and Industry Health
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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 ...
Affordability Posts Mild Gains in Second Half of 2025 but Crisis Continues
Affordability Posts Mild Gains in Second Half of 2025 but Crisis Continues
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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 ...
Mortgage Rates Dipped Below 6% in February Amid Treasury Rally
Mortgage Rates Dipped Below 6% in February Amid Treasury Rally
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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 ...
House Price Appreciation by State and Metro Area: Fourth Quarter 2025
House Price Appreciation by State and Metro Area: Fourth Quarter 2025
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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 ...
Multifamily Absorption Rate Remains Below 50%
Multifamily Absorption Rate Remains Below 50%
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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 ...
Private Residential Construction Spending Edges Higher in December
Private Residential Construction Spending Edges Higher in December
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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 ...
2024 Home Improvement Loan Applications: A State- and County-Level Analysis
2024 Home Improvement Loan Applications: A State- and County-Level Analysis
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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 ...
Gains for Student Housing Construction in the Last Quarter of 2025 
Gains for Student Housing Construction in the Last Quarter of 2025 
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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 ...
Price Growth for Building Materials Slows to Start the Year
Price Growth for Building Materials Slows to Start the Year
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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 ...
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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...

A record number of millennials, individuals aged 18 to 34 years, are delaying household formation. This Great Delay, instead of the forbearance of impending doom, may actually be a sign of prudent economic decision making from a generation coming of age during turbulent economic times....

Data collected during a 2014 survey allow NAHB to produce, for the first time, summary statistics that describe the typical residential subdivision being built in the United States. The results were recently published as a Special Study in HousingEconomics.com. For subdivisions of single-family detached homes,...

In addition to ensuring the supply of affordable rental housing, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) supports jobs and provides benefits to the economy. Using the NAHB economic impact model of home building, revised industry estimates reveal that the LIHTC program supports almost 96,000 jobs...

April is new homes month. And one of the virtues of a newly constructed home is the savings that come from reduced energy and maintenance expenses. In a previous analysis, we used data from the 2009 American Housing Survey (AHS) to offer proof. The AHS...

The top ten publicly-traded builder share of new home closings ticked up as a share of total US new home sales to 25.3% in 2013 from 23.9% in 2012. The 25.3% share in 2013 is out of the 430,000 new home sales reported by the...

Subcontractors are an often over looked but essential part of the home building industry. Many outside the industry do not understand how large a part subcontractors have in the construction of a home. Home builders, as well as remodelers, typically subcontract a large portion of...

New NAHB Economics research shows that the share of young adults ages 18 to 34 living with parents or parents-in-law increased sharply in the late 2000s. According to the most recent American Community Survey (ACS), one in three young adults ages 18 to 34, or...

A national survey of 271 jurisdictions conducted by Duncan Associates in 2012 reveals wide cross-country differences in impact fees that individual jurisdictions charge. The map below presents state averages for standardized single-family units (three-bedroom, 2,000 square-foot units, at density of 4 units per acre and...

Trying to fill the void that was created in 2001 when the Residential Finance Survey (RFS) was discontinued, the US Census Bureau started collecting data on financial, physical and other characteristics of multifamily rental housing properties through its newly designed Rental Housing Finance Survey (RHFS)....

Loan limits for mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) were scheduled to fall in 2014 due to the expiration of increased limits set during the housing crisis. However, the magnitude of change for the published limits has caught many by surprise. Stimulus legislation...

A new research paper from NAHB Economics investigates how immigrants affect US housing demand. The study analyzes recent data from the American Community Survey (ACS) that has detailed information on the country of origin, age, family status and housing choices of newly arrived immigrants. The...

Professionals in the housing industry know that demography and housing are closely related. The total number of households and their respective forms are fundamental drivers of housing demand. With this in mind, we thought it would be interesting to take a quick look at the...

The homebuyer tax credit program is in the past for the housing industry. But we can begin to take a look back at the impact of the program using Internal Revenue Service data from 2009 to map where the tax credit was claimed by homebuyers....

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