Single-family built-for-rent construction accelerated at the end of 2023, as builders sought to add additional rental housing in a market facing elevated mortgage interest rates. According to NAHB’s analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, there were approximately 22,000 single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR) starts during the fourth quarter of 2023. This is more than… Read More ›

The latest Producer Price Index, reported by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicated that inputs to residential construction, goods less foods and energy (residential building materials, not seasonally adjusted) increased 1.28% between December 2023 and January 2024. This was the largest monthly change for the index since March of 2022, when it increased by 2.07%. The year-over-year change of the… Read More ›

Despite weakness for single-family construction in 2023, townhouse construction recorded the best quarter for starts in more than 17 years. According to NAHB analysis of the most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, during the fourth quarter of 2023, single-family attached starts totaled 47,000, which is 27% higher than the fourth quarter of 2022. This represents… Read More ›

A sharp decline in multifamily starts pushed overall housing starts down in January even as single-family production showed signs of a gradual improvement later this year as interest rates continue to moderate. Overall housing starts decreased 14.8% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.33 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and… Read More ›

Expectations that mortgage rates will continue to moderate in the coming months, the prospect of future rate cuts by the Federal Reserve later this year, and a protracted lack of existing inventory helped provide a boost to builder sentiment for the third straight month. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes climbed four points to 48 in… Read More ›

Over 2023, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 909,227. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is 6.5% below the December 2022 level of 972,180. Year-to-date ending in December, single-family permits declined in all four regions. The range of permit decline spanned 5.0% in the South to 9.7% in the West. The Northeast declined by 7.1%… Read More ›