National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog

Builder Sentiment Stays Weak as Affordability Concerns Persist
Builder Sentiment Stays Weak as Affordability Concerns Persist
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Economic uncertainty and persistent affordability challenges driven by rising material prices, high land costs, and elevated mortgage rates continue to weigh on builder sentiment. Builder confidence in the market for ...
Building Material Prices Continue to Rise Despite Energy Price Declines
Building Material Prices Continue to Rise Despite Energy Price Declines
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Residential building material prices, excluding energy, rose 0.5% in June and were up 4.6% from a year ago. Lower energy prices were apparent in June, as energy input prices fell ...
Single-Family Permitting Continued to Weaken Through May
Single-Family Permitting Continued to Weaken Through May
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State-level permitting activity continued to reflect a divided housing market through the first five months of 2026. Elevated mortgage rates and ongoing affordability challenges continued to weigh on single-family construction ...
Inflation Cooled in June as Gas Prices Eased
Inflation Cooled in June as Gas Prices Eased
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Inflation slowed to 3.5% in June from a three-year high last month, driven by a mid-June ceasefire agreement that stabilized oil markets and lowered energy prices. The decline in energy ...
Two or More Story Home Starts Pull Back in 2025
Two or More Story Home Starts Pull Back in 2025
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Over half of new single-family homes built in 2025 were two or more stories, according to the recent release of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC). After increasing in ...
2025 New Single-Family Starts by Census Division
2025 New Single-Family Starts by Census Division
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Persistently high mortgage rates, elevated costs for builders, and ongoing supply-side constraints continued to weigh on single-family construction in 2025. According to the NAHB analysis of the 2025 Survey of ...
Existing Home Sales Slowed in June
Existing Home Sales Slowed in June
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After reaching a five-month high last month, existing home sales pulled back in June as record-high home prices and elevated mortgage rates weighed on buyers. This monthly volatility reflects the ...
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The business interest deduction has been a staple of the tax code for over a century. Deducting interest is important in home building, as debt is a critical financing tool and access to equity markets is challenging for the majority of home builders. The new...

The prior two Tax Reform Toolkit posts have explained the new 20 percent pass-thru deduction (i.e. 199A) as it applies to pass-thru owners with: Less than $315,000 (married filer) or $157,500 (single) of taxable income, or More than $415,000 (married) or $207,500 (single) of taxable...

About two years ago, NAHB reported that 22 percent of single-family builders had used aerial drones (or unmanned aircraft systems, as the Department of Defense calls them) at least once in their construction businesses. But the times they are a-changing. When we revisited the issue...

The new NAHB study presents the most recent and comprehensive estimates of home building employment, including self-employed workers, by state. NAHB Economics estimates that out of 9.8 million people working in construction in 2016, more than 3.8 million people worked in residential construction, accounting for...

Eye on Housing’s first Tax Reform Toolkit post explained the basics of the new 20% deduction for pass-thru income (i.e. the 199A deduction). That article focused on how the deduction works for a taxpayer who has less than $315,000 of taxable income if married and...

According to the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), nationally, the primary residence represents the largest asset category on the balance sheets of households in 2016 (as shown in Figure 1 below). At $24.2 trillion, the primary residence accounted for about one quarter of all...

Prices paid for building materials increased across the board in February. The indexes for softwood lumber (+5.6%), gypsum products (+4.2%), OSB (+3.1%), ready-mix concrete (+0.4%), and inputs to residential construction less labor (+1.0%) all increased, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by...

One of the new aspects of the tax code is the 20% pass-thru deduction, also known as the 199A deduction. It is a centerpiece of the tax bill, and one which most small business owners have heard about. Nevertheless, it warrants detailed explanation because, unsurprisingly,...

NAHB regularly conducts national polls of American adults and home buyers in order to understand new trends and preferences in the housing market. This is the fifth in a series of posts highlighting poll results, as presented during the 2018 International Builders’ Show in Orlando,...

NAHB analysis of the most recent Quarterly Sales by Price and Financing published by the Census Bureau reveals that cash sales accounted for 11,000 new home sales in the fourth quarter of 2017. Cash purchases also accounted for 11,000 new home sales in Q2 2017,...

From the trough of the housing downturn in 2010 through 2015, the number of homes under construction increased by 131 percent and the number of employees working in construction trade businesses increased by 18 percent.  Over that span, how much would you guess the number of...

Prices paid for OSB (-13.0%), softwood lumber (-1.0%), and inputs to residential construction (-0.1%), all decreased in December, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index for gypsum products advanced (+1.6%). Over the course of 2017,...

Prices paid for inputs to residential construction (+0.7%), softwood lumber (+2.3%), gypsum products (0.4%), and OSB (+15.3%) all increased in November, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since January 2017, the price paid for every major...

The price of OSB fell 1.0% in October, in contrast to prices paid for softwood lumber (+2.3%), gypsum products (+0.3%) and ready-mix concrete (+0.2%), which all increased. In addition, the price index measuring inputs to residential construction rose 0.1% in October, according to the latest...

The residential sector accounts for less than 8 percent of water used in the U.S., according to a recent study published by NAHB. The recent NAHB study draws on information published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS compiles data on water use every...

The 2016 American Community Survey data shows that New Jersey still leads the nation with the highest average annual real estate tax (RET) bill of $8,374—$7,707 more than RETs paid by Alabama’s homeowners. The difference between the highest-taxed state (New Jersey) and lowest (Alabama) grew...

The softwood lumber trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada has sent prices significantly higher in the first seven months of 2017. The Random Lengths Composite Price—a weighted-average measure consisting of multiple species and dimensions of softwood lumber products—increased 14% over just three weeks in...

Specialty contractors structured as partnerships generated aggregate net income of $4.5 billion in 2014, according to the most recent IRS data available.[1] These data are broken out by industry and income tax deductions, allowing us to compare the use of tax deductions by partnerships across...

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