President Donald Trump has called on homebuilders to boost construction of new homes and bring prices down, suggesting that some large builders are limiting production to keep home prices elevated.

In a post on his Truth Social site on Sunday night, Trump compared large homebuilders to the OPEC cartel of oil-producing nations, which restricts production in order to manipulate global oil prices.

“Before I became President, “OPEC” kept Oil prices high. It wasn’t right for them to do that but, in a different form, is being done again — This time by the Big Homebuilders of our Nation,” wrote Trump.

He continued: “They’re my friends, and they’re very important to the SUCCESS of our Country, but now, they can get Financing, and they have to start building Homes. They’re sitting on 2 Million empty lots, A RECORD.”

“I’m asking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to get Big Homebuilders going and, by so doing, help restore the American Dream!” Trump concluded.

In taking aim at “big homebuilders,” Trump’s comments suggest he is floating a new strategy to deliver on his campaign vow to improve home affordability, after months of pressuring the Federal Reserve to deliver lower interest rates.

Trump turns focus to housing shortage

Large, publicly traded homebuilders including DR Horton, Lennar, and PulteGroup now account for more than half of new homes sold in the U.S., and encouraging them to step up production could help address the nation’s housing shortage, says Realtor.com® Senior Economist Jake Krimmel.

“New construction is the only way to solve the housing shortage,” says Krimmel, noting that recent research from Realtor.com found the housing supply gap is most severe in the Northeast. “Encouraging new home production in such high-demand and undersupplied markets is the most efficient and effective solution to the supply shortage.”

However, Krimmel questioned Trump’s claim that homebuilders are somehow colluding to keep prices high, which could be a violation of federal anti-trust laws.

“While the president is correct that the U.S. housing shortage is keeping home prices high, the manmade cause of this shortage is local zoning regulations, not OPEC-style collusion among homebuilders to artificially restrict supply,” he said.

Instead, local restrictions on new construction are often combined with excessive red tape in permitting to prevent new housing from being built, or to complicate and delay construction, making it prohibitively expensive for developers, says Krimmel.

Although Trump did not specify how government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could help spur more homebuilding, the two entities do back products that finance construction, and set rules for mortgages on new-construction homes that could potentially be tweaked or streamlined.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who is also the chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said in a post on X that he was “meeting individually with each of the home builders.”

“The President has asked that we look at getting the Builders going, again, in our country, and we will do just that at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” wrote Pulte, whose grandfather founded the third largest U.S. homebuilder, PulteGroup.

Homebuilders respond to Trump’s comments

National Association of Homebuilders Chairman Buddy Hughes told Realtor.com in a statement that the trade group welcomed Trump’s focus on boosting home production to improve affordability.

“President Trump is right to focus on housing affordability, and NAHB agrees that getting more homes built is essential to restoring the American Dream,” he said. “Achieving that goal will require builders of all sizes working together with the administration to overcome the complex government barriers that slow the pace of new construction.”

“NAHB stands ready to partner with the administration and Congress to remove regulatory obstacles, ease building material and labor shortages and expand access to affordable financing to enable builders to construct more attainable, affordable housing,” added Hughes.

Although the market for home construction is fairly fragmented, large, publicly traded homebuilders have been steadily gaining market share in recent decades, accounting for 51% of new home closings in 2023, up from 25% in 2005, according to market research firm Zonda.

And homebuilder lot supply has been rising this year as builders pull back on construction, with lot supply hitting a five-year high in the second quarter of 2025, according to Zonda.

“While builders had planned to increase housing starts in 2025, they slowed production as the year progressed due to choppy consumer demand and rising resale supply,” says Zonda Chief Economist Ali Wolf.

In the first half of 2025, permitting activity for new homes slumped to a five year low, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Builders have pulled back on new projects due to weak sales, with many builders forced to cut prices and boost incentives to move completed units.

This slower pace of construction contributed to a 21% annual increase in lot supply in the second quarter, as fewer lots were converted into starts, according to Zonda’s tracking.

“While lot supply may be rising, it signals developers believe construction would be unprofitable, not a collusive agreement to choke supply,” says the economist Krimmel.

The federal government shutdown stretched past the one-week mark, interrupting data releases and likely delaying some home closings.

Mortgage lenders have received guidance from Fannie and Freddie on adaptations they can make to minimize disruption, which will help.

One bright spot, Bureau of Labor Statistics employees are being called back to produce the September inflation report. This data is necessary for Social Security cost-of-living adjustments, and as a result, the Fed will have one additional data point before its next meeting.

Against this backdrop, the minutes from the last Fed meeting were released. While housing market softness was on the mind of some at the September meeting, my takeaway was that the minutes were a tad more hawkish than expected, underscoring the importance of getting that extra inflation data. 

Mortgage rates slipped back this week, marking a fifth week in their recent range and also five weeks below 6.5% so far in 2025. Mortgage rates were lower than they are now for just four weeks in 2024. Homeowners with higher rates who hesitated and missed that refinance opportunity may want to get in touch with a lender now.

Survey data showed that consumer attitudes toward homebuying were little changed in September. But notably, even as mortgage rates improved in the month, consumers were less likely to expect further improvements. 

A separate Realtor.com® survey on information sources tapped by consumers shows that a majority of Americans are embracing new tools for real estate insights and housing-related content, including AI and social media. Still, real estate agents came out on top when respondents were asked about sources that made them “smarter,” sources considered accurate, and those worth the time spent using them.

Even as temperatures drop, some real estate markets continue to bring the heat, and they’re found in the Northeast and Midwest. Interestingly, the New York metropolitan area was the biggest major market mover in the past year, according to the Realtor.com September Hottest Housing Markets report. Digging deeper, however, reveals wide variation within the market. While many New Jersey suburbs are red-hot, Manhattan and Queens are quite cool.

Another Realtor.com report found that cash-sales remain high—comprising nearly 1 in 3 recent home sales—despite slipping slightly from a year ago. Cash sales are even more common at the very high and the very low ends of the price scale, accounting for a majority of home sales priced below $100,000 and above $2 million.

Weekly housing data showed a modest uptick in new seller interest this week, but growth remains lower than earlier in the year, prompting more modest active listing growth amid flat prices.

Finally, the Best Time To Buy nationwide is here: Oct. 12–18. Buyers this week can expect lower competition, notable savings on pricing, and more homes on the market than at the start of the year. Along with the national average, 21 of the 50 largest markets see peak buyer conditions this week.

Homebuyer sentiment remained subdued in September despite a drop in mortgage rates, with nearly three-quarters of consumers saying it’s a bad time to buy a house.

Overall consumer sentiment toward housing as measured by Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index was at 71.4 last month, unchanged from August but down 2.5 points from a year ago.

Asked about buying conditions, 73% said it was a bad time to buy, versus just 27% who said it was a good time to buy.

However, consumers remained more optimistic about selling a home, with 57% responding that it’s a good time to sell, compared with 41% who said it is a bad time to sell.

Outlook on mortgage rates was nearly evenly split, with 32% predicting mortgage rates will fall over the next 12 month, and 30% expecting those rates to rise.

After three straight years of mortgage rates averaging above 6%, financing costs have become a major issue for buyers, combining with record-high home prices to price many buyers out of the market.

Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages averaged 6.35% in September, down from 6.59% in August and hitting a one-year low, according to Freddie Mac.

“While mortgage rates have softened, the decline hasn’t been large enough to reignite buyer confidence—even with lower rates, elevated home prices still make homeownership unattainable for many,” says Realtor.com® Economist Jiayi Xu. “Moreover, a rebound in homebuying sentiment also depends on income growth and job security—both of which show no improvement compared with a year ago.”

Mortgage rates have since climbed off their September lows, despite the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut last month, showing that homebuyers are justified in their uncertainty over the future path of mortgage rates.

Fannie Mae’s own economists predict mortgage rates will end 2025 at around 6.4%, and finally fall below 6% at the end of 2026, reaching 5.9%.

Meanwhile, affordability remains a challenge for many buyers. Although prices for newly built homes have been tapering down from their peak in 2022, with many homebuilders offering price cuts and incentives, existing home prices continue to march higher.

The national median sales price for existing homes sold in August was $422,600, up 2% from a year earlier, while the typical new home sold for $413,500.

In the new survey, more consumers (40%) predicted that home prices would continue to go up over the next 12 months, while 22% said they expected home prices to fall.

Prices have softened in some markets, with Case-Shiller data from July showing that single-family sales prices are falling annually in seven major cities in the South and West.

Nationally, nearly 20% of homes for sale in September had price reductions, with sellers between $350,000 and $500,000 most likely to cut, according to the Realtor.com economic research team’s monthly trends report.

Economic uncertainty also remains a headwind for the housing market, as the full effects of President Donald Trump‘s tariffs play out, and the ongoing federal government shutdown adding a new wrinkle for the economy.

In September, as the threat of the shutdown loomed, most consumers (75%) said they were not concerned about losing their job over the next 12 months, while just 25% expressed concerns about layoffs.

Respondents were also cautiously optimistic about income, with 14% saying they expected their household income to rise significantly in the next year, while 8% expected a significant decline.

A bipartisan bill aimed at making housing more affordable has passed the Senate in the middle of the federal government shutdown, in a sign that the urgency of the housing crisis is a rare issue that Democrats and Republicans can agree upon.

The Senate passed the ROAD to Housing Act in a 77-20 vote on Friday as part of its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, the $924.7 billion defense spending bill for fiscal year 2026.

The 315-page bill, backed by Republican Sen. Tim Scott and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, passed out of the Senate Banking Committee in a unanimous 24-0 vote in July.

“This landmark legislation—the first of its kind in more than a decade—takes important steps to boost the nation’s housing supply, improve housing affordability, and increase oversight and efficiency of federal regulators and housing programs,” Warren and Scott said in a statement following the full Senate vote.

The bill now needs House approval to reach the president’s desk, but a vote has not been scheduled, and Speaker Mike Johnson has vowed the House will not return for votes until the Senate agrees on a spending bill to reopen the government.

Several industry groups have praised the bill, which includes a wide range of provisions designed to reduce red tape for new housing construction, incentivize communities to build more housing, and boost accountability for federal housing regulators.

“NAR applauds the Senate for passing this bipartisan legislation that addresses housing supply, affordability and homeownership pathways,” says National Association of Realtors® Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn.

“At a time when homeownership increasingly feels out of reach, this legislation offers meaningful, pragmatic solutions to restore opportunity for millions of American families,” says McGahn. “We commend Chair Sen. Tim Scott and Ranking Member Sen. Elizabeth Warren for their bipartisan leadership on this critical issue. We look forward to working with Congress and the administration to enact this vital legislation and help preserve the American dream of homeownership for future generations.”

Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit calls Senate passage of the bill “a win for housing affordability and consumers.”

“Many of the provisions within the bipartisan measure are aimed to take meaningful steps to boost housing supply, cut red tape in federal program offerings, and expand access to affordable mortgage credit for families nationwide,” he says. “As the bill moves to the House, MBA will stay fully engaged with Congressional leaders in both chambers to strengthen key provisions—including those dealing with lender liability and second appraisals—to ensure the final package delivers meaningful results for consumers, lenders, and the communities they serve.”

Notable provisions of the ROAD to Housing Act

One notable part of the bill, Section 203, calls for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop a “best practices” framework for local zoning and land use policies, which could be copied and implemented by local jurisdictions at their discretion.

This is significant because zoning rules vary widely among different jurisdictions, and overly restrictive zoning rules are often cited by builders as a key impediment to new housing construction.

At a minimum, having a national template for zoning laws would give pro-housing local politicians more ammunition to oppose cumbersome rules in their own jurisdictions, by giving them federal guidelines to point to, says Realtor.com® senior economist Joel Berner.

“Creating a set of standards for zoning could be helpful to bring attention to the issues facing many local markets, but the effectiveness of policy changes will ultimately come down to municipalities,” says Berner.

Berner also highlights Sections 207 and 208 as potentially impactful, as they call for cutting red tape around federal environmental review procedures and empowering states, local governments, and
Indian tribes to streamline their own review procedures.

“The big challenge for legislation like this is that the decision-making bodies that determine housing policy are primarily local, so it’s difficult to have top-down types of changes,” says Berner.

A group of condo unit owners in Florida just won a legal victory against their own board in a fight over a whopping special assessment, after a judge ordered the association leadership to hand over all records and control to a new board.

The owners and condo board at 1060 Brickell Condos, a two-tower, 45-story luxury high-rise in Miami, have been embroiled in a vitriolic legal contretemps for about a year.

The Financial District neighborhood around Brickell Avenue, with plenty of upscale shopping, draws high-profile residents, including singer Marc Anthony and power couple David and Victoria Beckham.

The condo controversy started with the passage of a staggering $21 million special assessment. Board association president Jacob Kassel insisted he was only doing his duty to keep the building well-maintained.

The assessment was for $7.7 million for facade restoration, $3.5 million for repair and restoration of the parking garage and basement, $2.5 million for general conditions, and $1.7 million for repairs and restoration of the rotunda, among other expenses, according to The Real Deal.

Owners were aghast at the amount of money, which would come directly out of their pocketbooks to the tune of about $35,000 per owner. They argued that repairs weren’t needed, given that the building was only 17 years old.

The owners’ allegations also included a lack of transparency about the repairs, an engineering representative who wasn’t licensed, a hasty deadline to pay the assessment, and a board that refused to answer questions.

“Owners are basically forced to watch [Kassel] bleed them dry financially while acting snarky, arrogant, entitled, and careless,” an account called 1060 Brickell Condominium Owners alleged on X.

Condo owners got together to oust the three-person board (including vice president David Treiger and treasurer Paolo Lignarolo) and elected a new one in November 2024. However, the current board then disqualified the three new candidates, and managed to keep control of the board.

That’s when the lawsuits began flying.

The board sued unit owner James Duddey, who led a successful recall effort (certified by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation) for the Kassel-led board.

Unit owners Dorinda Spahr, Jermaine Jones, and Javier Noriega were appointed to the board by a judge in July, and they too subsequently filed their own lawsuit.

Haber Law attorney Ariella Gutman, who represented the trio, told Realtor.com®: “Condominium owners now have a new board who will take over the operations of the Association in all aspects and run the next election. The new board is in place until the next election [in November].

“This was a hard-fought win over various cases both in arbitration and in court. We are happy for the owners to take control and have the people who they voted for running their Association. Nonetheless, these cases and the fact that it took almost a full year to get resolution expose the various nuances and obstacles that the law regarding condominium imposes on owners who want to make changes or challenge actions of the Board of Directors in their community. “

Realtor.com also reached out to attorney Marc Halpern, of Halpern-Rodriguez in Coral Gables, representing the condo association.

Additionally, unit owners Jessica Bergman and Antonio Sevillano, a married couple, filed a class-action complaint, alleging that the board’s passage of the special assessment violated Florida law by failing to provide a description of the special assessment and by failing to allow unit owners to vote on it. 

Bergman and Sevillano alleged that the board’s 2-1 vote on the assessment also violated the property’s condo declaration, according to TRD.

Kassel, a former real estate agent, had told TRD that he believed the large assessment was perfectly justified.

“When you live in a condominium, you have the responsibility of everything being maintained 100%, versus when you live in a house and the roof caves in, you have that decision whether or not you want to maintain the roof or other [elements],” he told the outlet.

“We’re not going to allow another Champlain Towers collapse to happen in a building I live in or that I’m responsible for,” he said referring to the condo collapse in Surfside that killed 98 due to structural damage that wasn’t repaired.

But many owners disagreed.

“Jacob Kassel took a catastrophic event and created an opportunity,” one told TRD.

The 1060 Brickell Condominium Owners group has been especially active on X, often posting vitriolic videos and posts calling out Kassel and the board.

“Are you recording me? Hi, hi! I’m recording you, too!” board vice president Treiger said in one video, posted in November 2024. “Let’s record all day long, my dear. Spread your lies, call the police, do whatever you want, you little coward … you contaminated individual.”

He then apparently called police on the person recording him.

With Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Joseph Perkins‘ latest ruling, the Kassel-led board is finally out at the condo, at least for the time being (there is another election in November) and the owners group rejoiced.

“In a dramatic reversal for fed-up condo owners, a Miami-Dade judge has ordered the immediate removal of 1060 Brickell Condominium Association’s incumbent board after it shamelessly clung to power for nearly a year—despite losing a state-mandated recall arbitration and illegally rejecting valid owner ballots that would have ousted them,” it wrote on X, calling the ruling “a hard-won victory for owners who fought relentlessly for nearly 12 months to end this abuse of power.”

Realtor.com reached out to the account on X and WhatsApp.

Unbelievably, it’s not 100% certain that the tug-of-war is over.

“We cannot be sure of what the former directors will do, and there are various situations to consider on whether they can challenge this,” Gutman said.

“At present, they have not and have turned over the Association to the board that was elected via the recall and under the Court’s order.”

Neighbor wars

The brouhaha, which has seen neighbor turn on neighbor, illustrates how easily HOA, condo, and co-op owners can go to war not only over living conditions—such as noise or unmowed lawns—but also finances. And just how expensive that can be.

Owners had told TRD that they’d spent a half-million dollars on attorney fees, in addition to funding the association’s legal fees via their monthly dues, fighting their own board.

While the owners alleged that the board’s passage of the special assessment violated Florida law by failing to allow unit owners to vote on it, whether or not a vote is taken before an assessment varies by association.

“In some cases, a membership vote is mandatory for approval; in others, it isn’t,” says building management service Associa.

Should you buy?

At 1060 and 1050 Brickell, there are 12 units for sale, ranging in price from from $390,000 to $850,000.

The 605 residential units include studios, lofts, and one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. They range in size from 570 square feet to 2,500.

“With a magnificent two-story lobby, and equally striking residential units, Avenue on Brickell is a one-of-a-kind luxury home experience,” boasts the website.

The building comes with amenities such as a 24/7 front desk attendant, valet service, pool, spa tub, business center, fitness center, yoga room, sauna, lounge room, billiard room, massage room, and wine and cigar locker room.

A two-bedroom unit in the complex is listed for $525,000 with $1,368 in monthly fees. Described as “currently the lowest priced 2 bedroom in the entire building,” the listing doesn’t state if the assessment and legal fees are baked into the relatively high HOA dues.

Another listing, a 613-square-foot studio for $399,500, comes with an enticing perk: “Special Assessments paid by seller!”

But should buyers invest in a place with this much bad blood?

“I would steer clear of this community at all costs,” Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty agent Cara Ameer, who is licensed in Florida and California, tells Realtor.com.

“The owners will end up paying for the litigation through special assessments, and many people may just opt to no longer pay their dues and feel they are throwing good money after bad and end up simply walking away from their unit. I have seen this kind of thing happen, and it takes years to recover.”

As for how to avoid a building with this much controversy, Ameer says it can be worth it to hire an attorney to do a deep dive into all condo documents, looking for red flags.

“The best thing you can do if you plan to buy a condo is to get involved with your board and condo association so you can have input into the decisions being made,” Ameer advises.

“Owners don’t want to get involved in their condo association, and they think ignorance is bliss until it isn’t.”

A federal judge has temporarily blocked thousands of layoffs of federal workers, including deep cuts in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development office dedicated to investigating discrimination in the housing market.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on Wednesday granted a temporary restraining order requested by unions representing federal workers, pausing the layoffs that began last Friday.

Last week, 442 HUD staffers received layoff notices as part of a broader purge of more than 4,100 federal workers across multiple agencies, according to a government declaration in court filings this week.

The attempted layoffs follow President Donald Trump‘s vow to fire “a lot” of federal workers during the government shutdown, with the president saying on Friday that the cuts “will be Democrat-oriented,” in an apparent reference to a federal program favored by Democrats.

At HUD, the cuts were concentrated in the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, where more than 100 workers who investigate claims of housing discrimination were given walking papers.

Staff cuts also hit HUD’s offices of Public and Indian Housing, Housing Counseling, Housing Operations, and Community Planning and Development.

The layoffs were spread across HUD’s 10 regional offices, with Bloomberg reporting that all Fair Housing Office staff were eliminated at two of the offices: Denver (which oversees Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana) and San Francisco (California, Nevada, and Arizona).

A HUD spokesperson said in a statement: “HUD is implementing a reduction in force as part of its ongoing efforts to realign its activities with its core statutory mission. It is HUD’s priority to serve the American people effectively.”  

The staffing cuts were decried by fair housing advocates and elected Democrats, who said that they would deliver a major blow to enforcement of federal laws that prohibit housing discrimination.

“Recent actions to dismantle the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity are a direct assault on our nation’s commitment to justice in housing,” Michael Chavarria, director of the HOPE Fair Housing Center in Illinois, tells Realtor.com®. “By eliminating the staff responsible for enforcing the Fair Housing Act, our leaders are abandoning their legal duty to protect Americans from discrimination.”

Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, issued a statement calling the layoffs “cruel, dangerous, and disgraceful.”

“President Trump has once again chosen to attack working families and the very public servants who help keep roofs over their heads,” says Waters. “Let’s be clear: Trump, with full support from Republicans, is illegally using this shutdown as a pretext to undermine our housing system and dismantle programs that protect millions of families in dire need of federal assistance.”

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In an op-ed last week for the Daily Caller, HUD Secretary Scott Turner blamed the government shutdown on Democrats and said it was preventing the department from offering a wide range of services.

Turner said that the shutdown had halted the Federal Housing Administration’s processing of new insurance applications for health care projects, FHA-supported reverse mortgages, lead hazard mitigation grants, and new loans for tribal communities.

The layoffs at HUD, as well as cuts at the departments of Treasury, Commerce, Education, Energy, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services, are currently the subject of a lawsuit playing out in California federal court.

The lawsuit filed by federal employee unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, argues that the mass layoffs were made without statutory authority, a claim the Trump administration vigorously denies.

Judge Illston’s ruling that temporarily blocked the layoffs came in after a hearing in that case on Wednesday.

In a separate lawsuit filed last month, five attorneys who worked on discrimination issues at HUD claimed they were involuntarily assigned to other divisions where they could no longer work on enforcement of the Fair Housing Act.

The government has yet to respond in court to that suit, which was filed in federal court in Washington, DC.

Chavarria, the fair housing advocate in Illinois, says that his group is “deeply alarmed” by the recent developments at HUD.

“At HOPE Fair Housing Center, we are deeply alarmed. The right to live free from housing discrimination is not a political preference—it is the law,” he says. “Our hearts go out to the dedicated public servants who have devoted their careers to upholding these protections, only to become casualties of politics.”

This article has been update with information about Wednesday’s court ruling.

President Donald Trump‘s new tariffs on imported lumber and wooden fixtures have taken effect, potentially raising the cost of home construction and renovations.

The tariffs, aimed at boosting U.S. timber production, officially kicked in at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday. They include a 10% tariff on all timber and lumber imports and a higher 25% duty on cabinets and furniture.

Those tariffs are set to jump higher on Jan. 1, rising to 30% for wooden furniture and 50% for kitchen cabinets and vanities. While the move is welcomed by domestic lumber producers, homebuilders say the new tariffs will raise their materials costs.

“These new tariffs will create additional headwinds for an already challenged housing market by further raising construction and renovation costs,” says National Association of Home Builders Chairman Buddy Hughes.

The U.S. imports roughly a third of the lumber used in home construction, because it does not produce enough domestically to meet demand. Roughly 85% of imported lumber comes from Canada, which is already subject to separate 35% tariffs under rules set by the Commerce Department.

The new tariffs will stack on top of that, taking the total duties on Canadian lumber to a punishing 45% and raising costs for homebuilders unable to find a cheaper alternative.

Trump’s latest tariffs on lumber and furniture were imposed under a law allows the president to enact trade restrictions on imports if the U.S. government determines they are a threat to national security.

In a proclamation announcing the new duties, the White House said that wood imports were weakening the economy by diminishing domestic production and threatening the survival of lumber mills.

“Because of the state of the United States wood industry, the United States may be unable to meet demands for wood products that are crucial to the national defense and critical infrastructure,” the proclamation stated.

According to an NAHB analysis, U.S. sawmills are operating at just 64% of their potential capacity, a figure that has dropped steadily since 2017. 

“It will take years until domestic lumber production ramps up to meet the needs of our citizens,” the trade group says. “In the interim, imports of softwood lumber are vital to build, remodel and repair American homes and apartments.”

About 94% of all new homes in the U.S. were framed with dimensional lumber in 2024, according to an NAHB analysis of 2024 U.S. Census Bureau data.

Framing costs, including the roof, averaged about $49,763 for new single-family homes last year, accounting for about 12% of the total cost of a new build, according to an NAHB breakdown.

Cabinets and countertops cost $19,056 on average, accounting for 4.5% of the total, the analysis found.

Major homebuilders could absorb some of the additional costs from the new tariffs, or find alternative sources. However, builder profit margins have already been shrinking, and many companies have pulled back on new construction in the face of higher costs and weak demand.

Residential building permits, a sign of future construction, continued to wane in August, dropping 3.7% from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,312,000. On an annual basis, permits were down 11%.

Permits have been falling steadily since March, as homebuilders have grappled with multiple headwinds, including rising materials costs, tariff uncertainty, elevated interest rates, and tepid demand from homebuyers.

The five-month streak marks the longest stretch of declining permit activity since late 2008, when the housing crash and Great Recession all but halted new building activity.

New data on residential construction activity in September was due to be released later this week, but will be on hold until the federal government shutdown ends, creating an information gap at a key time of uncertainty for the sector.

Trump recently called on large, publicly traded homebuilders to step up production, urging government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to work with the industry to boost output.

Good news for sellers after a slow summer: Home sale profits are way up in certain metros.

Overall, these five metros had the largest annual profit gains in the country: St. George, UT; Gulfport, MS; Augusta, SC; Lexington, KY; and Dayton, OH.

The typical home sale netted $123,100 in raw profit in the third quarter of 2025, up 1.9% from the previous quarter, according to ATTOM’s latest home sales report.

This translates to a 49.9% average national profit margin for selling single-family homes and condos, up slightly from the 49.3% profit margin posted in the second quarter but still below the 55.4% average profit sellers saw in the same quarter last year.

“Profit margins remained steady and high throughout the traditionally busier summer selling season,” said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM, a real estate data analytics firm. “While continuously rising prices could have chased away buyers and slackened demand, the recent dip in mortgage rates may be helping to keep more people in the market.”

The typical home sales price in the third quarter was $370,000, according to the report, up 3.4% from the same time last year.

Metros with the biggest increases

If you happen to live in one of these five metros and sold a home in the third quarter of this year, then rejoice. You had the largest profit percentage increase in the country since this time last year.

The profit margin is defined as the percent difference between the median purchase price and the median resale price for homes in a given area.

Metro areas were included if they had at least 1,000 home sales in the third quarter of 2025 and sufficient data to analyze, says the firm.

Gains are as follows: St. George, UT (up from 26.3% in the third quarter of 2024 to 37.2% in the third quarter of 2025); Gulfport, MS (up from 26.2% to 35.7%); Augusta, SC (up from 37.8% to 43.7%); Lexington, KY (up from 42.9% to 48.6%); and Dayton, OH (up from 55.1% to 60.7%).

So why did these five metros do so well?

“Many have historically offered relatively affordable housing compared to national averages,” explains Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com®.

“As affordability in major metropolitan areas has eroded, buyers have increasingly turned to these still-accessible markets, boosting demand and intensifying competition. The combination of growing popularity, competitive bidding, and strong relative affordability has pushed seller profits up faster than the rest of the country.”

Of the five metros, Dayton had the highest margin at 60.7%.

“Despite softer volume, home values are holding up. We’re seeing about 6% in price growth compared to last year,” says Dayton agent Jeff House, a strategic real estate adviser at Real Estate Bees.

As for what attracts buyers to the area, House tells Realtor.com: “Dayton gives buyers a solid lifestyle without the cost of living in a big city. There is still the ability to find jobs, a local community feel, and good recreation options, but without the steep prices.”

These metros don’t have the highest profit margins overall.

For metros with populations over 1 million, the largest average home sale profit margins for the third quarter were San Jose, CA (94.3%); Seattle, WA (80.2%); Buffalo, NY (80%); Rochester, NY (77.3%); and Hartford, CT (75%).

Typically, Americans have done remarkably well in home appreciation in the last several years. In the third quarter, just over half (85) of the 157 metro areas in the analysis had average home sale profit margins above 50%.

In case you’re wondering which areas saw the biggest profit margin drops, they are Ocala, FL (down from 103.9% to 55.1%); Punta Gorda, FL (down from 88.3% to 58%); Vallejo, CA (down from 66.4% to 43%); North Port–Sarasota, FL (down from 61.1 to 38.8%); and Port St. Lucie, FL (down from 77.8% to 56.1%).

It’s not surprising that Florida takes four of the top five spots. The soaring costs of home insurance and HOA fees in the hurricane-prone state means home prices there have started to slide.

St. George, UT

Profit margin percentage increase: 10.9%

Median home list price: $621,189

Average homeowner profit for Q3: $143,632

Gulfport, MS

Profit margin percentage increase: 9.4%

Median home list price: $306,235

Average homeowner profit for Q3: $62,530

Augusta, SC

Profit margin percentage increase: 5.9%

Median home list price: $325,900

Average homeowner profit for Q3: $74,250

Lexington, KY

Profit margin percentage increase: 5.8%

Median home list price: $398,610

Average homeowner profit for Q3: $106,000

Dayton, OH

Profit margin percentage increase: 5.6%

Median home list price: $250,000

Average homeowner profit for Q3: $88,048

Homebuilder sentiment rose this month to its highest level since April, as builders pinned their hopes on Federal Reserve rate cuts to revive the housing market.

Overall builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes was at 37 in October, up 5 points from September and the highest in six months, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released on Thursday.

The index measuring sales expectations over the next six months jumped 9 points to 54, the highest since January. Anything above 50 reflects positive sentiment about the market.

Following a tough year for builders, falling mortgage rates have revived their hopes, with average rates hovering near 6.3% for the past month and hitting their lowest levels of the year.

“While recent declines for mortgage rates are an encouraging sign for affordability conditions, the market remains challenging,” says NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes. “The housing market has some areas with firm demand, including smaller builders shifting to remodeling and ongoing solid conditions for the luxury market. However, most homebuyers are still on the sidelines, waiting for mortgage rates to move lower.”

Mortgage rates began falling in late August in anticipation of the Fed’s policy rate cut last month, and financial markets are currently pricing in two further rate cuts this year.

“Combined with anticipated further easing by the Fed, builders expect a slightly improving sales environment, albeit one in which persistent supply-side cost factors remain a challenge,” says NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.

Builders, already grappling with high costs for materials and skilled labor, have expressed concerns about the impact of new tariffs on lumber and cabinetry imports that kicked in this week.

The tariffs, aimed at boosting U.S. timber production, include a 10% tariff on all timber and lumber imports and a higher 25% duty on cabinets and furniture. Those rates are set to jump higher on Jan. 1, rising to 30% for wooden furniture and 50% for kitchen cabinets and vanities. 

Even as they face higher costs, builders are still cutting prices to lure homebuyers in a tepid housing market.

In October, 38% of builders reported cutting prices, a share that has remained roughly steady since June. The average price reduction rose to 6% this month, after averaging 5% for several months previously.

As well, 65% of builders reported using sales incentives such as mortgage buydowns and closing cost assistance in October, unchanged from September.

On a regional basis, the Northeast index score rose 2 points to 46, the Midwest was unchanged at 42, the South increased 2 points to 31, and the West gained 2 points to 28.

The builder sentiment data takes on new significance this month as the government shutdown persists, blocking the release of regularly scheduled data on new-home construction that had been due out on Friday.

According to the economist Dietz, the October increase for the index suggests an approximate 3% increase for the September single-family permit totals on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis.

A boost in permit applications would be welcome news for homebuyers, following a weak year for home construction that has failed to meet initial expectations.

In August, the latest available data, residential building permits fell to their lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, on a seasonally adjusted annual basis.

Permits have been falling steadily since March, as homebuilders have grappled with multiple headwinds, including rising materials costs, tariff uncertainty, elevated interest rates, and tepid demand from homebuyers.

The five-month streak marks the longest stretch of declining permit activity since late 2008, when the housing crash and Great Recession all but halted new building activity.

The federal government shutdown has now passed the two-week mark, interrupting data releases and likely delaying some home closings. The September inflation report that was originally scheduled for this week will be released next Friday, Oct. 24. 

While it’s hard to say what the overall trend will be, I expect that housing inflation will have continued to cool. The September rental report showed another month of easing asking rents, which are now down 3.2% from their 2022 peak. 

This has modestly improved housing affordability nationwide, and particularly in Austin, TX, the new most affordable rental market. 

In contrast, median asking rent in the New York metro area exceeds the recommended 30% threshold for the typical household, and within the city, rents continued to climb in the third quarter. 

This is one reason why housing affordability has been a prominent issue in the New York City mayoral election. In fact, soaring rents mean that a household with a monthly budget matching the typical Manhattan rent could afford to buy an above-median-priced home in four nearby cities that are popular with New York-based home shoppers. 

In a recent survey of Gen Z homeowners and hopefuls, respondents report feeling challenged, but undaunted by today’s housing market. Even as 82% say buying a home is harder for their generation, nearly three-quarters of those surveyed are actively saving for a down payment.

In weekly housing data, we saw an uptick in newly listed homes relative to recent weeks, which could signal more engagement from sellers. It was enough to prompt a modest uptick in active listings growth and median listing prices, which remained little changed from last year. 

Mortgage rates eased lower this week, marking a sixth week below 6.5%. Lower rates could improve home sales even without an uptick in seller interest given current inventory levels, but the government shutdown may be an offsetting, if temporary, drag.

The NAHB Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, a measure of builder confidence, improved in October as current sales, expected sales, and buyer traffic all improved. This data suggests that single-family permits also increased modestly in September, although we won’t have this data, which is typically published each month by the U.S. Census Bureau, until after the government reopens.

Finally, we’re just wrapping up the Best Time To Buy nationwide, but conditions are still pretty good in most major metros and a handful of markets where shoppers can even anticipate the peak next week.

Here’s a breakdown of the current situation:
Market Conditions:

• Buyer’s Market: Palm Springs is currently considered a buyer’s market. This means there are more homes available for sale relative to the number of buyers, giving purchasers more negotiating power and potentially leading to lower prices and homes staying on the market longer. This is a shift from last year when Palm Springs was a seller’s market.
• Increasing Inventory: The number of homes for sale in Palm Springs has increased significantly. As of early April 2025, there were 3,667 homes for sale in the Greater Palm Springs area, which is the highest inventory level seen since before the pandemic. In March 2025, there were 160 homes for sale in Palm Springs, an 8.8% increase compared to February 2025.
• Decreasing Median Sold Price: The median sold price for homes in Palm Springs in March 2025 was $581,800, which is 9.9% lower than in March 2024.
• Slower Sales but Steady: While sales activity hasn’t significantly increased, it remains steady and is about the same as last year. However, it’s still below the historical average for this time of year.
• Increased Days on Market: Homes in Palm Springs had an average listing age of 44 days in March 2025, which is down 24.4% compared to the previous year. However, other data indicates a median of around 50-59 days on the market.
• Price Discounts: Homes in Palm Springs are selling at an average discount of 4.1% compared to the list price.
  Price Trends:
• Overall Decrease: The median listing home price in Palm Springs in March 2025 was $799,000, trending down 3.6% year-over-year.
• Varying by Property Type and Location: Price changes vary significantly based on the number of bedrooms and the specific city within the Greater Palm Springs area. For example, in March 2025, the median sold price for a 3-bedroom home in Palm Springs decreased by 12.4% year-over-year, while 1-bedroom homes saw a 1.9% increase. Indian Wells experienced an 18.6% price jump for the average-sized detached home, while Palm Springs saw a 4.2% decline.
  Future Outlook:
• Stabilization Expected: The Coachella Valley real estate market is expected to remain relatively stable for the rest of 2025.
• Moderate Price Increases Possible: Home prices are anticipated to see moderate increases, particularly in high-demand areas.
• Potential Shift Towards Seller’s Market: Some projections suggest that tightening inventory could potentially push the market towards a seller’s advantage by 2026.
  Key Considerations for Buyers:
• More Negotiation Power: The current buyer’s market provides an opportunity to negotiate prices.
• Increased Inventory: Buyers have more options to choose from.
• Lock in Rates: With mortgage rates recently dipping, it might be a favorable time to secure a good rate.
  Key Considerations for Sellers:
• Realistic Pricing is Crucial: Overpriced homes are likely to sit on the market longer.
• Condition Matters: Buyers are selective and often look for homes in good condition.
• Flexibility in Negotiations: Being open to negotiation is essential in the current market.
  In conclusion, while the Palm Springs real estate market is not experiencing the rapid price increases seen in recent years, it presents a window of opportunity for buyers due to increased inventory and price adjustments. Sellers need to be strategic with pricing and presentation to attract buyers in this evolving market.

The lack of people in the market to build a new home has affected homebuilding numbers. It sank in February to a five-month low due to uncertainty about tariffs, which poses a risk to costs. 

Residential construction data showed that while completions rose, permits were roughly flat and homebuilding projects fell. This suggests that builders are working to close out existing projects ahead of the uncertainty—and optimistically maintaining the permit pipeline while exercising more caution on starting homes right now.

One bright spot for hopeful builders, sellers, and buyers alike, interest rates have largely steadied this week despite last week’s inflation surprise, with the 10-year yield hewing close to 4.5%. 

As a result, mortgage rates fell modestly for a fifth week. Although rates have occupied a fairly narrow band since the end of 2024, it’s still a good idea for home shoppers to do some scenario planning or rate-proofing their home budget as they approach the spring season.

It’s best to consider how a swing in mortgage rates will affect your home price target and budget, in advance. In turn, it will help you adjust more nimbly if rates rise during your home search.

January existing-home sales data not only provides our first look at 2025, but we also see how more elevated mortgage rates have affected buyers and sellers. Although sales pulled back from December’s high, they continue to climb from a year ago, suggesting that some shoppers have accepted higher rates.

The Realtor.com® weekly housing data showed ongoing seller activity, although new listings growth wasn’t quite as robust as last week. Still, the availability of for-sale homes continued to increase, and home list prices remained steady to slightly lower. Perhaps most helpful for home shoppers, the market is not quite as brisk as one year ago, with typical time on the market up by just less than a week. 

Finally, the Realtor.com January Rental Report shows that rent declines moderated as rents stabilized in January. Despite the steadiness, the monthly costs of renting versus buying are still tipped heavily in favor of renting. The exception is in Pittsburgh and Detroit. Realtor.com data found it’s cheaper to buy a home in those metros than it is to rent.

Annual home price growth accelerated in December for the second straight month, and prices hit an all-time high in one Northeastern city, showing that valuations remain surprisingly resilient.

Nationwide, home prices grew 3.9% in December from a year earlier, more than the 3.8% gain recorded in November, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index data released Tuesday.

The Northeast continued to lead all regions in growth, and home prices reached an all-time high in Boston, the only market where they did so for the three-month period that ended in December.

New York again reported the highest annual gain among the 20 largest cities, with a 7.2% increase in December, followed by Chicago, with 6.6%; and Boston, at 6.3%. Tampa, FL, posted the lowest return, with prices falling 1.1% annually.

“Regional variation in the housing market means that buyers across the country face vastly different market conditions,” says Realtor.com® Senior Economic Research Analyst Hannah Jones. “Markets in the Midwest and Northeast continued to see substantial demand, resulting in sustained price growth in December, while the South and West continued to soften.”

The index’s composite of home prices in the 20 largest metro areas posted a year-over-year increase of 4.5%, up from a 4.3% increase in the previous month.

The continued expansion of home prices came in defiance of sluggish home sales, which were at a near 30-year low in 2024, as high mortgage rates and affordability concerns pushed many buyers to the sidelines.

Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed loans averaged 6.72% across December, up from the two-year low of 6.18% in September, according to Freddie Mac.

“Despite some downward progress early in the month, mortgage rates climbed through December, ending the year near 6.9%,” says Jones. “Rates have remained at or above 6.85% since late December, and this recent climb in rates is likely to weigh on buyer demand through early 2025.” 

Pandemic disruptions continue to be felt in home prices

Recent home price trends show that the big Northeastern cities that suffered most during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic are now enjoying a rebound, while former pandemic boomtowns such as Tampa and Phoenix, are lagging behind.

“It has been five years since the COVID-19 outbreak took hold of the global economy, sparking
unprecedented volatility, massive fiscal and monetary stimulus, and a housing market that responded
to national migratory changes in how we work and where we live,” says Brian D. Luke, head of
commodities, real and digital assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

“National home prices have risen by 8.8% annually since 2020, led by markets in Florida, North Carolina, Southern California, and Arizona,” he says.

While home price growth as measured by the Case-Shiller index continues to outpace inflation, it is now far below the peak appreciation of 18.9% observed in 2021 and lags behind the historical average of the index, Luke notes.

“Home prices stalled during the second half of the year with markets in the West dropping the fastest,” he says.

San Francisco, the worst-performing market since 2020, saw home prices drop 4.5% during the latter half 2025, followed by Seattle with a 3% decline.

Home prices in San Francisco are now 11% lower than the all-time high they reached in May 2022.

Previous pandemic winners like San Diego and Tampa also experienced declines of 2.9% and 2.7%, respectively, during the second half last year.