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 2026, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell one point to 36 in February.
“Builders reduced their expectations for future sales as buyers report affordability challenges, which is contributing to declining consumer confidence for the overall economy,” said NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes, a home builder and developer from Lexington, N.C. “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.”
“Housing affordability remains an ongoing challenge at the start of 2026,” added NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “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.”
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