National Association of Home Builders Economic Research Blog

Hiring Rebounds in October, but Residential Construction Employment Declines
Hiring Rebounds in October, but Residential Construction Employment Declines
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The U.S. labor market rebounded in October, with nonfarm payroll employment increasing by 165,000 jobs and the unemployment rate declining to 4.1%. However, the improvement in overall employment contrasts with ...
Multifamily Developer Confidence Weakens in Third Quarter
Multifamily Developer Confidence Weakens in Third Quarter
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New multifamily housing confidence weakened year-over-year in the third quarter, according to the Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The MMS produces two separate ...
Mortgage Applications Decline as Higher Rates Boost ARM Share
Mortgage Applications Decline as Higher Rates Boost ARM Share
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Mortgage application activity declined in October as the 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose sharply again. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, a measure of total mortgage application volume, ...
Laundry Room Locations in New Homes and Apartments, 2025 
Laundry Room Locations in New Homes and Apartments, 2025 
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In 2025, the majority of homes started featured laundry connections on the first floor (70%), according to the Census’s Survey of Construction. Laundry located on the second floor or higher ...
Mortgage Rates Climb in October Amid Accelerating Inflation
Mortgage Rates Climb in October Amid Accelerating Inflation
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Mortgage rates rose sharply again in October as the U.S. treasury yields surged. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.33% in October, up 47 basis points (bps) ...
Construction Job Openings Rise in September
Construction Job Openings Rise in September
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The number of open positions in the construction sector increased in September per the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The current level of open jobs ...
Private Residential Construction Slips as Remodeling Weakens
Private Residential Construction Slips as Remodeling Weakens
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Private residential construction spending decreased in September 2026 driven by a steep decline in improvement (remodeling) spending. According to the latest construction spending data from the U.S. Census Bureau, private ...
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The construction labor market remains tight, as the industry sees a rising number of job openings year-over-year. The count of open construction jobs increased for the month to 380,000 unfilled positions in January. The highest measure in the history of the data series (going back...

Per the latest results of NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index (HBGI), single-family home building showed higher growth rates across all regional submarkets in the fourth quarter of 2021, relative to the fourth quarter of 2020. Quarterly growth, however, trended downwards for all regions in the...

New NAHB 2022 Priced-Out Estimates showed that 87.5 million households are not able to afford a median priced new home, and that additional 117,932 households would be priced out of the new home market if the price goes up by $1,000. This post presents how...

Job growth accelerated in February with widespread gains across industries. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 678,000 in February, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8%. Construction industry employment (both residential and non-residential) totaled 7.6 million. Residential construction gained 31,000 jobs, while non-residential construction...

NAHB analysis of Census Construction Spending data shows that total private residential construction spending rose 1.3% in January after an increase of 2.2% in December 2021. Spending stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $829.4 billion. Total private residential construction spending was 13.4% higher...

Residential construction loan volume reached a post-Great Recession high during the fourth quarter of 2021, as home building activity posted gains for the year. The volume of 1-4 unit residential construction loans made by FDIC-insured institutions increased 1% during the fourth quarter. The volume of...

Per NAHB’s latest Home Building Geography Index (HBGI), through the second half of 2021, multifamily home building rebounded from quarterly declines that began at the outset of the pandemic. In the wake of the public health crisis, there was a pronounced return to higher density...

Data from the Survey of Market Absorption of Apartments (SOMA), produced by the Census Bureau, suggest continued improvement for the multifamily sector in the third quarter of 2021 due to strong demand and low vacancy rates. The absorption rate of unfurnished, unsubsidized apartments (the share...

The missing middle construction sector includes development of medium-density housing, including townhouses, duplexes and other small multifamily properties. While townhouse construction has trended higher in recent quarters, the multifamily segment of the missing middle (apartments in 2 to 4 unit properties) has disappointed. For 2021,...

Confidence in the market for new multifamily housing improved in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the latest results from NAHB’s Multifamily Market Survey (MMS). The MMS produces two main indices. In the fourth quarter, the Multifamily Production Index (MPI) increased one point to...

New single-family home sales posted a small decline in January as housing demand was affected by a jump in mortgage rates. The January pace of sales was nonetheless solid due to a lack of resale inventory and ongoing need for new construction. The U.S. Department...

According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the market share of rental units of multifamily construction starts increased to 94.2% during the fourth quarter of 2021. In contrast, the historical low share of 47% was set during the third quarter of 2005, during the...

National home prices grew at an unsustainable pace in December, supported by strong demand and record-low inventory. Home price appreciation is expected to slow in the coming quarters as rising mortgage rates price some homebuyers out of the market. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National...

An expected impact of the virus crisis is a need for more residential space, as people use homes for more purposes including work. Recent data confirms this impact on the market continues to occur. According to fourth quarter 2021 data from the Census Quarterly Starts...

NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates custom home building expanded by 10.8% in 2021 amid strong demand for move-up purchases given a rise in existing home equity. There were 49,000 total custom building starts...

Despite record-low inventory and higher prices, existing home sales jumped in January as buyers expected further rate increases and locked in current low rates, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). However, investors with all-cash offers were squeezing out first-time and young homebuyers. More...

According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, townhouse construction jumped 28.1% in 2021. As housing demand has shifted to more suburban and exurban areas and housing affordability headwinds persist, medium-density construction lagged for much...

In the fourth quarter of 2021, effective interest rates decreased on all four categories of loans tracked in NAHB’s Survey on Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) financing. The average effective rate (based on rate of return to the lender over the assumed life of the...

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