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A State- and County-Level Analysis – Eye On Housing

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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 equity, and a growing need for aging-in-place improvements. According to the 2024 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data, the number of home improvement loan applications declined 3% from a year earlier, while the total dollar volume of these loans held steady at approximately $144 billion, essentially unchanged from 2023.

In this article, NAHB’s analysis of the 2024 HMDA data provides insight into remodeling trends across states and counties nationwide. The 2024 HMDA data, published by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), includes detailed information on residential mortgage lending, such as loan purpose and type, loan characteristics, and demographic information about loan applicants.

State-Level Analysis:

Remodeling activity varies not only by borrowers’ age but also across geographic areas, reflecting differences in cost of living, local economic conditions, and house prices.

With respect to the total number of home improvement loan applications, California recorded the highest number in 2024, with 120,167 applications. Florida ranked second with 94,901 home improvement loan applications. At the other end of the spectrum, Wyoming, Alaska, and Puerto Rico had the lowest total numbers of home improvement loan applications, with 212, 1,397, and 1,600 applications, respectively.

When adjusting for population size, smaller states stand out. Rhode Island and New Hampshire recorded the highest number of home improvement loan applications per 1,000 people, at 6.0 and 5.6, respectively. Maine and Idaho ranked third and fourth, followed by Utah with 5.3 applications per 1,000 people.

Nationally, there were 3.5 home improvement loan applications for every 1,000 people in 2024. California, the nation’s most populous state, reported 3.0 applications per 1,000 people, which is lower than the national average.

County-Level Analysis:

The analysis of county-level home improvement loan applications per 1,000 people reveals that overall population size is not strongly correlated with per capita remodeling loan activity. In 2024, the ten most populous counties in the United States had an average of 2.6 home improvement loan applications per 1,000 people. Los Angeles County in California, one of the nation’s largest counties, reported 2.7 applications per 1,000 people. 

In contrast, several counties with a lower population had higher levels of home improvement loan applications relative to their population. For example, Rich County in Utah, with roughly 3,000 people, had the highest level nationwide at 12.0 applications per 1,000 people. Camas County in Idaho, with approximately 1,000 people, ranked higher than 99.9% of U.S. counties on this measure.

Additionally, the analysis finds that home improvement loan applications are relatively more common in the Mountain and New England divisions. In total, there were 30 counties that reported 7 or higher home improvement loan applications per 1,000 people, and about 73% of these counties were located in the Mountain and New England divisions. None of these 30 counties were in the West South Central, or Pacific divisions.

The five counties with the highest number of home improvement loan applications relative to their population in 2024 were: Washington County (WI), Rich County (UT), Camas County (ID), Boise County (ID), and Nantucket County (MA).



This article was originally published by a eyeonhousing.org . Read the Original article here. .

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Gains for Student Housing Construction in the Last Quarter of 2025  – Eye On Housing

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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 the quarterly gain, private fixed investment in dorms was 1.3% lower than a year ago 

Private fixed investment in student housing experienced a surge after the Great Recession, as college enrollment increased from 17.2 million in 2006 to 20.4 million in 2011. However, during the pandemic, private fixed investment in student housing declined drastically from $4.4 billion (SAAR) in the last quarter of 2019 to $3 billion in the second quarter of 2021. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, college enrollment fell by 3.6% in the fall of 2020 and by 3.1% in the fall of 2021.  

Since then, private fixed investment in dorms has rebounded, as college enrollments show a gradual recovery from pandemic-driven declines. Effective in-person learning requires college students to return to campuses, boosting the student housing sector. Still, demographic trends are reshaping the outlook for student housing. The U.S. faces slower growth in the college-age population as birth rates declined following the Great Recession. As a result, total enrollment in postsecondary institutions is projected to only increase 9% from 2021 to 2031, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, well below the 37% increase between 2000 and 2010. 

Despite recent fluctuations, student housing construction shows signs of recovery, and future growth is expected in response to a structurally slower-growth student enrollment projection. 



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Price Growth for Building Materials Slows to Start the Year – Eye On Housing

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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 in the rate of price growth since April of last year. Metal products continue to experience price increases, while specific wood products are showing declines in prices.

The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.5% in January, after rising 0.4% in December. The January increase in final demand is linked directly to final demand services, which saw prices rise 0.8% in January. The index for final demand goods decreased 0.3% in January.

The price index for inputs to new residential construction rose 0.7% in January and was up 3.3% from last year. The price of goods used in new residential construction was up 0.9% over the month and 2.4% from last year. Meanwhile, the price for services was up 0.3% over the month and up 4.7% from last year.

Input Goods

The goods component has a larger importance to the inputs to residential construction price index, representing around 60%. On a monthly basis, the price of input goods to new residential construction was up 0.9% in January.

The input goods to residential construction index can be further broken down into two separate components, one measuring energy inputs with the other measuring remaining goods. The latter of these two components simply represents building materials used in residential construction, which makes up around 93% of the goods index.

Energy input prices fell 0.9% in January and were 10.3% lower than one year ago. Building material prices were up 1.0% in January and up 3.3% compared to one year ago, marking the lowest year-over-year price change since July of last year.

The largest year-over-year price increases continue to show in metal products. Topping the list in January was metal molding and trim, with prices up 48.3% from last year. One product that has seen rapid price growth acceleration over the past few months has been nonferrous metal and cable with prices up 19.7%. Price declines for materials over the year are concentrated among wood products with prices for particleboard and fiberboard down 24.4%, treated wood products down 5.0%, and softwood lumber down 3.3%.

Input Services

Prices for service inputs to residential construction reported an increase of 0.3% in January. On a year-over-year basis, service input prices were up 4.7%. The price index for service inputs to residential construction can be broken out into three separate components: a trade services component, a transportation and warehousing services component, and a services excluding trade, transportation, and warehousing component (other services).

The most significant component is trade services (around 60%), followed by other services (around 29%), and finally transportation and warehousing services (around 11%). The largest component, trade services, was up 7.1% from a year ago. The transportation and warehousing services rose 2.0%, while prices for other services were up 1.1% over the year.

Expanded Inputs to New Construction

Within the PPI that BLS publishes, new experimental data was recently published regarding inputs to new construction. The data expands existing inputs to industry indexes by incorporating import prices with prices for domestically produced goods and services. With this additional data, users can track how industry input costs are changing among domestically produced products and imported products. This data focuses on new construction, but the complete dataset includes indices across numerous industries that can be found here on BLS website. 

New construction input prices are primarily influenced by domestically produced goods and services, with domestic products accounting for 90% of the weight of the industry index for new construction. Imported goods make up the remaining 10% of the index.  

The latest available data, for November 2025, showed that domestically produced goods continue to have faster price growth compared to imported goods used in new construction. On a year-over-year basis, the index for domestic goods increased 3.0%, while prices for imported goods have fallen 3.0%.



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Housing’s Share of GDP Declined Further at the End of 2025 – Eye On Housing

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Housing’s share of the economy was 16.0% in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the latest estimates of GDP produced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This share is down from 16.1% in the third quarter and is also lower than 16.3% as registered just one year ago. Residential construction, measured by residential fixed investment, subtracted from real GDP growth for each quarter in 2025, replicating a trend from 2022.

The more cyclical home building and remodeling component–residential fixed investment (RFI)–was 3.7% of GDP, down from 3.8% in the previous quarter. The second component, housing services, was 12.3% of GDP, constant from 12.3% in the previous quarter. The graph below plots the share for housing services and RFI along with housing’s total share of nominal GDP.

Housing service growth is much less volatile when compared to RFI due to the cyclical nature of RFI. Historically, RFI has averaged roughly 5% of GDP, while housing services have averaged between 12% and 13%, for a combined 17% to 18% of GDP. These shares tend to vary over the business cycle. However, the housing share of GDP lagged during the post-Great Recession period due to underbuilding, particularly in the single-family sector.

Residential Fixed Investment

In the fourth quarter, RFI subtracted 6 basis points from the headline GDP growth rate, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of negative contributions. RFI was 3.7% of the economy, recording a $1.2 trillion seasonally adjusted annual pace. Among the two segments of RFI, private investment in structures fell 1.6%, while residential equipment rose 2.1%.

Breaking down the components of residential structures, single-family RFI fell 5.2%, while multifamily RFI fell 3.6%. RFI for multifamily structures has contracted for nine consecutive quarters, recently due to declines in new supply and a shift in geography for multifamily construction to lower density markets. Permanent site structure RFI, which is made up of single-family and multifamily RFI, fell 4.9%. The “other structures” RFI category was the only one to rise, up 1.2% in the fourth quarter. This component consists primarily of manufactured homes, improvements, and dormitories. On a seasonally adjusted annual basis in the fourth quarter, private investment in permanent site structures was at $517.4 billion, while other structures totaled $640.6 billion.

Housing Services

The second impact of housing on GDP is the measure of housing services. Similar to the RFI, housing services consumption can be broken into two components. The first component, housing, includes gross rents paid by renters, owners’ imputed rent (an estimate of how much it would cost to rent owner-occupied units), rental value of farm dwellings, and group housing. The inclusion of owners’ imputed rent is necessary from a national income accounting approach, because without this measure, increases in homeownership would result in declines in GDP. The second component, household utilities, is composed of consumption expenditures on water supply, sanitation, electricity, and gas.

For the fourth quarter, housing services represented 12.3% of the economy or $3.9 trillion on a seasonally adjusted annual basis. Real housing services expenditures rose 2.0% at an annual rate in the fourth quarter. Real personal consumption expenditures for housing grew 1.2%, while real household utilities expenditures increased 7.9%.

Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) for housing services are the largest component of PCE, making up 18.0% in the fourth quarter. The second largest component of PCE is health care services, at 17.2%. Expenditures on services were $14.8 trillion on a seasonally adjusted annual basis in the fourth quarter, more than double the expenditures on goods ($6.6 trillion).



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Cyclical Slip or New Equilibrium? – Eye On Housing

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Reversing the post-pandemic rebound, the headship rates among young adults (the share of the population heading their own households) declined in 2024, according to NAHB’s analysis of the American Community Survey (ACS) data. Even so, the current rate of 43.7% marks a significant improvement from 2017, when only 40.2% of adults ages 25-34 headed their own households. At the same time, compared to the standards of the 1990s and early 2000s, when nearly 46% of young adults in this age group were household heads, the current headship rates remain below that benchmark.

Declining headship rates mean that adults form fewer households and demand fewer housing units. The recent wide fluctuations in headship rates demonstrate their susceptibility to cyclical factors. This is particularly true for younger adults, who recorded some of the largest fluctuations in headship rates. Following the housing market collapse of 2008 and the subsequent slow recovery, the headship rate for adults ages 25-34 declined persistently for over a decade. By 2017, the rate hovered just above 40%, as a growing share of young adults lived with parents, in-laws, other relatives, or shared housing with roommates. Reflecting improving housing affordability, headship rates for young adults stabilized in 2018 before the pandemic rocked the housing market, but the gains were modest at that time.

The COVID-19 pandemic released some pent-up housing demand, especially among young adults. A heightened preference for space and independence, combined with excess savings accumulated during lockdowns and low mortgage rates, pushed the headship rate for 25- to 34-year-olds to 44.2% in 2023—the highest level since the 2008 housing crash. However, persistent housing shortages and builders’ limited ability to expand production prevented a full return to the higher headship rates.

In addition to cyclical economic constraints, including housing shortages, affordability pressures, labor market conditions, and credit tightening, long-term demographic and social trends can influence headship rates. While cyclical factors cause temporary fluctuations, fundamental structural changes, such as delaying marriage and childbearing, rising student debt, and greater acceptance of shared living arrangements, may have lasting effects, permanently lowering equilibrium headship rates. NAHB’s analysis of historical Decennial Censuses and ACS data shows that headship rates have decreased across all adult age groups over the past several decades. Adults ages 25 to 34 experienced some of the largest declines since the 1990s and early 2000s. If these long-term trends represent permanent shifts in life-cycle timing and living preferences, then the headship rates from the 1990s and early 2000s may no longer serve as accurate long-term benchmarks for forecasting or policy. In fact, the long-term average, commonly used as a proxy for normal or equilibrium rates, is now several percentage points below the headship rates of the early 2000s for all age groups.

Geospatial analysis of the 2024 ACS data highlights considerable variation in headship rates across states, demonstrating how differing demographics, social factors, and economic conditions affect young adults’ ability to establish their own households. States with higher rental and homeownership burdens typically show lower headship rates and higher proportions of young adults living with parents or sharing housing with roommates. For example, Hawaii and California, two states with the highest proportions of cost-burdened homeowners, have the lowest headship rates among young adults, at 32% and 36%, respectively. Conversely, in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, over half of young adults take the lead of their own households—all states with some of the lowest housing cost burdens. Notably, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Idaho also have the highest percentage of married young adults co-leading households, ranging from 24% to 26%. In contrast, in Hawaii and California, the percentage barely reaches 13%.



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New Home Sales Close 2025 with Modest Gains – Eye On Housing

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New home sales ended 2025 on a mixed but resilient note, signaling steady underlying demand despite ongoing affordability and supply constraints. The latest data released today (and delayed because of the government shutdown in fall of 2025) indicate that while month-to-month activity shows a small decline, sales remain stronger than a year ago, signaling that buyer interest in newly built homes has improved. The December NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index showed that 67 percent of builders used sales incentives, the highest percentage post-COVID. Builders offered an average home price reduction of 5 percent during December.

Sales of newly built single-family homes declined 1.7 percent month-over-month in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 745,000 units, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. This represented a 3.8 percent year-over-year increase. An estimated 679,000 homes were sold in 2025, down 1.1 percent from the 2024 rate of 686,000. A new home sale is recorded when a contract is signed or a deposit is accepted, regardless of the stage of construction. The seasonally adjusted annual rate reflects the pace of sales that would occur over a 12-month period if current conditions persisted.

New single-family home inventory totaled 472,000 units in December, 2.7 percent lower than the prior month, and 3.5 percent lower than a year earlier. At the current sales pace, the months’ supply of new homes stood at 7.6 months, down from 8.2 months one year ago, though still above the six-month level that is generally considered balanced.

Combined new and existing home inventory has edged lower in recent months, with total months’ supply declining to 4.0, reflecting slower construction activity. Meanwhile, inventory conditions in the existing home market have retreated after making gradual improvement in prior months. Moderating prices across both markets have helped support buyer demand amid ongoing affordability concerns.

By the end of 2025, there were 128,000 completed, ready-to-occupy homes available for sale on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, up 8.5 percent from a year earlier. Completed homes accounted for a little more than a quarter of the total inventory, while homes under construction made up 51 percent. The remaining 22 percent of homes sold in December had not yet started construction at the time the sales contract was signed.

Home prices showed further signs of easing in 2025. The median new home sale price declined 1.3 percent to $415,000 from $420,300 in 2024. Affordability improved at the lower end of the market, with 20 percent of new homes priced below $300,000. Thirty-four percent of homes were priced above $500,000, while the remaining 46 percent fell within the $300,000 to $500,000 range.

Regionally, year-to-year new home sales were up 1.7 percent in the Midwest and 0.4 percent in the South but declined 4.9 percent in the West and 7.7 percent in the Northeast.



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U.S. Economy Ends 2025 on a Slower Note – Eye On Housing

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Real GDP growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter of 2025 as the historic government shutdown weighed on economic activity. While consumer spending continued to drive growth, federal government spending subtracted over a full percentage point from overall growth.

According to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annual rate of 1.4% in the final quarter of 2025, a notable deceleration from a 4.4% increase in the third quarter. This growth rate was below the NAHB forecast for the quarter.

Furthermore, the latest data from the GDP report indicates that inflationary pressures intensified over the quarter. The price index for gross domestic purchases rose 3.7%, up from a 3.4% increase in the third quarter of 2025. The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price (PCE) Index, which measures inflation (or deflation) across various consumer expenses and reflects changes in consumer behavior, increased 2.9% in the fourth quarter. This is slightly higher than a 2.8% rise in the previous quarter.

For the full year, real GDP grew 2.2% in 2025. It marks a slowdown from the 2.8% increase in 2024 and stands as the weakest annual growth rate since the pandemic. The annual gain matched NAHB’s forecast and primarily reflected continued strength in consumer spending and gains in investment.

Breaking down the fourth-quarter data further, the increase in real GDP primarily reflected increases in consumer spending and investment, partially offset by decreases in government spending and exports. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased during the quarter as tariffs had measurable effects.

Consumer spending, the backbone of the U.S. economy, rose at an annual rate of 2.4% in the fourth quarter, the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2025. Spending on services remained solid, increasing at a 3.4% annual rate, while spending on goods edged down 0.1%.

Gross private domestic investment added 0.66 percentage points to headline GDP growth in the fourth quarter. The gain in investment was primarily driven by increases in intellectual property products, private inventory investment, and equipment spending.

Government spending fell, reflecting the effects of a prolonged federal government shutdown. 

Nonresidential fixed investment increased 3.7% in the fourth quarter. The increases in equipment (+3.2%) and intellectual property products (+7.4%) offset the decrease in structures (-2.4%). Meanwhile, residential fixed investment (RFI) declined 1.6% in the fourth quarter, marking the fourth consecutive quarterly decline. Within the residential category, single-family permanent site structures fell 5.2% at an annual rate, multifamily permanent site structures declined 3.6%, and spending on home improvements dropped 3.2%.

For the common BEA terms and definitions, please access bea.gov/Help/Glossary.



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Overall Housing Starts Inch Lower in 2025 – Eye On Housing

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Despite a strong finish in December, single-family home building dipped in 2025 as persistent affordability challenges continued to weigh on the market.

Total housing starts for 2025 were 1.36 million, down 0.6% from the 1.37 million total in 2024. Single-family starts in 2025 totaled 943,000, down 6.9% from the previous year. Multifamily starts ended the year up 17.4% compared with 2024.

Overall housing starts increased 6.2% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.40 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. This pace reflects the number of housing units builders would begin over the next 12 months if December’s activity were sustained.

Within this overall number, single-family starts rose 4.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 981,000 units. This is the highest rate since February 2025. The multifamily sector, which includes apartment buildings and condos, increased 11.3% to a 423,000-unit pace.

Looking at regional housing starts for 2025, combined single-family and multifamily starts were 8.7% higher in the Northeast, 7.2% higher in the Midwest, 4.0% lower in the South, and 0.8% lower in the West.

Overall permits rose 4.3% to a 1.45 million annualized rate in December but were down 2.2% compared with December 2024. Single-family permits declined 1.7% to an 881,000-unit rate and were 10.9% lower than a year earlier. Multifamily permits increased 15.2% to a 567,000-unit pace.

Total permits for 2025 were 1.43 million, a 3.6% decline from the 1.48 million total in 2024. Single-family permits in 2025 totaled 909,600, down 7.4% from the previous year.

Looking at regional permit data for 2025, total permits were 7.7% lower in the Northeast, 3.0% higher in the Midwest, 5.2% lower in the South, and 1.9% lower in the West.

The total number of housing units under construction stood at 1.3 million in December, down 10.5% from a year earlier. Single-family homes under construction fell to 587,000 units, an 8.4% year-over-year decline and the lowest level since November 2020. Multifamily units under construction declined to 690,000, down 12.2% from a year earlier and well below the peak of more than 1 million units reached in December 2023.



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How Housing Affordability Conditions Vary Across States and Metro Areas – Eye On Housing

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The NAHB 2026 priced-out estimates show that the housing affordability challenge is widespread across the country. In 39 states and the District of Columbia, over 65% of households are priced out of the median-priced new home market. This indicates a significant disconnect between higher new home prices, elevated mortgage rates, and household incomes.

New Hampshire stands out as the state with the highest share of households (83.4%) unable to afford the state’s median new home price of $677,982. High-cost states such as Hawaii and Maine follow closely, with 83% and 82.7% of households, respectively, struggling to afford new homes.

Even in states with relatively lower median new home prices, affordability remains a major concern. For example, in Mississippi, where the median home price is $266,837, 61.1% of households still find these new homes out of reach. Meanwhile, Delaware, the state with better affordability in the analysis, has a median new home price of $373,666, and even there, around 56% of households still struggle to afford a new home. Even modest price increases, such as an additional $1,000, could push thousands more households from affording these median priced new homes. For instance, in Texas, such an increase could price out over 14,365 households.

Affordability patterns also vary significantly across metropolitan areas. In high-cost areas like the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area, where new homes largely target high-income Silicon Valley residents, only 14% of all households meet the minimum income threshold of $407,659 required to qualify for a loan on a median-priced new home. In contrast, in more affordable metro areas like Rome, GA, where the median new home price is $107,567, more than three-quarters of households can afford a median-priced new home. While higher home prices generally result in higher monthly mortgage payments and higher income thresholds, the relationship between home prices and affordability is not always linear. Factors like property taxes and insurance payments can also significantly impact monthly housing costs, adding complexity to affordability calculations.

The affordability of new homes, together with the population size of a metro area, significantly influences the priced-out impact of a $1,000 increase in new home prices. In metro areas where new homes are already unaffordable to most households, the effect of such an increase tends to be small. For instance, in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area, an additional $1,000 increase to the home price affects only 273 households, as only 14% of all households could afford such expensive new homes in the first place. Here, the additional price increase only affects a narrow share of high-income households at the upper end of the income distribution, where affordability is already stretched.

In contrast, metro areas, where new homes are more broadly affordable, experience a larger priced-out effect. A $1,000 increase in the median new home price affects a larger share of households in the “thicker part” of the income distribution. For example, in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area metro area, a $1,000 increase in new home price would disqualify 4,028 households from affording a median-priced new home. This is the largest priced-out effect among all metro areas, driven by a substantial population base.

Detailed priced-out estimates for every state and more than 300 metro areas are available in the interactive dashboard below.



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Builder Sentiment Edges Lower on Affordability Concerns – Eye On Housing

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Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell one point to 36 in February, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

Persistent affordability challenges, including high housing price-to-income ratios and elevated land and construction costs, helped push builder confidence lower for the second straight month to start the year.

Housing affordability remains an ongoing challenge at the start of 2026. The solution for the housing market is the enactment of policies that will bend the construction cost curve and enable additional supply of attainable housing. On the positive side, easing inflation should continue to allow lower interest rates for mortgages and builder loans.

The latest HMI survey also revealed that 36% of builders cut prices in February, down from 40% in January. While this marks the lowest incidence of price-cutting since last May (34%), the average price reduction remains at 6%. The use of sales incentives was 65% in February, unchanged from January, and marking the 11th consecutive month this share has exceeded 60%.

While the majority of builders continue to deploy buyer incentives, including price cuts, many prospective buyers remain on the sidelines. Although demand for new construction has weakened, remodeling demand has remained solid given a lack of household mobility, per comments from builders in the HMI.

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for more than 40 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

The HMI index gauging current sales conditions held steady at 41 from January to February, the index measuring future sales fell three points to 46 and the gauge charting traffic of prospective buyers fell two points to 22.

Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the Northeast fell one point to 43, the Midwest held steady at 43, the South dropped one point to 35 and the West fell two points to 33. HMI tables can be found at nahb.org/hmi.

Editor’s Note: With the official 2026 release schedule for the Survey of Construction still unavailable from the U.S. Census Bureau, NAHB confirms the HMI for March 2026 will be released on March 16.  A schedule for the rest of the year will be available as soon as possible.



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