Over a third (38%) of home builders reported a shortage of flooring installers they employ directly, with 6% reporting a serious shortage and 32% reporting some shortage, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index survey sent in September. Shortages of flooring installer subcontractors were slightly higher, with 41% of builders reporting a shortage: 8% serious and 33% some.
The share of builders reporting shortages across 14 trades (directly employed) rose from the last time NAHB conducted the survey in April 2025. Two trades—plumbers and HVAC technicians—were unchanged.
Across all 16 trades surveyed, the share of builders who reported a shortage of directly employed labor ranged from 33% for excavators and building maintenance managers to 58% for finished carpenters. Averaged across the nine trades NAHB has tracked consistently since 1996, the shortage rate rose to 47% from 42% in April 2025—a rate higher than at any point during the 2004–2006 housing boom.
NAHB attributes the rise to falling residential construction employment as home building competes for workers with other construction sectors, particularly data centers. NAHB also cites immigration enforcement. Builders reported a median 4.2% increase in labor costs over the past year.
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