The most significant challenge builders faced in 2025 was high interest rates, as reported by 84% of builders in the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index survey. And while high interest rates will continue to be a concern in 2026, fewer builders (65%) expect them to be a major problem this year, according to the survey. In fact, more builders (74%) predict that home buyers will anticipate prices/interest rates declining this year.
Rounding out the list of the five biggest challenges builders expect to face this year are costs and availability of developed lots (62%), concerns about employment and the economic situation (61%), and the cost and availability of labor (61%). These concerns ranked similarly in 2025.
The NAHB has asked builders about their most serious challenges every year since 2011. Until 2021, relatively few builders reported problems with buyers expecting prices or interest rates to fall, but that share has been rising steadily for the past four years and reached a record high of 81% in 2025. In 2011, a concern about employment/economic situation was reported as a significant problem by 79% of builders. This concern faded over the next decade, and by 2021, only 24% cited it as a top issue. But it has escalated rapidly since then.
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