2025
Goodbye 2024...Hello 2025!
Heading int o 2025: A Year of Mom ent um !
As we step into 2025, we're excited to reflect on a fantastic 2024 and look ahead with even more enthusiasm for the year ahead!
Last year was filled with growth, success, and progress? and we couldn? t have achieved it without all of your support.
We?re moving right along in the new year, ready to take on new challenges and embrace the opportunities ahead. With exciting projects in the works, we?re committed to making 2025 our best year yet. Thank you for being part of this journey with us!
Stay tuned? we?ve got so much more to share and can't wait to achieve even more, together. Let?s make this year unforgettable!
Kicked Off t he New Year: Meet ing t
he Building Officials!
Scott Reagan (Building Official), Ray Garside, (Buidling Official) Natasha Merchant (Breezeline), Ray Steadward (Building Official), Peter Zvingilas (Building Official), Joe Summers (Building Official), Patrick Caulkins (HBRAECTPresident & Caulkins Homes), Leslie Still (Breezeline), Eric Person (HBRA of Central CT) & Michael Muzio (Breezeline)
We kicked off the new year with our first Builder Blend event, "Meet the Building Officials," and it was a great success! A big thank you to our generous hosts at Riverhead Building Supply for making the event possible.
The gathering provided a valuable opportunity for a Q&A session, sparking insightful discussions around building codes and regulations.
Special shout out to the incredible building officials and inspectors who joined us and made the event a standout!
Joe Summers from Mashantucket , Scott Reagan from the City of Groton, Peter Zvingilas from the State of CT, David Garside from the Town of East Lyme, Raymond Steadward from Enfield, Ed Scarpati, Walter Woycik, of Groton and Red Smith, both building inspectors.
NAHB New s Updat es
Home Price Growth Leveling Off
On a year-over-year basis, home prices grew at a rate of 3.75%for November, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index (NSA) This marks an increase from the 3.59%growth rate recorded in October but is down from a peak of 6.54%in March 2024.
By Met ro Area
In addition to tracking national home price changes, the S&PCoreLogic Index (SA) also reports home price indexes across 20 metro areas. Compared to last year, 19 of 20 metro areas reported a home price increase There were 10 metro areas that grew more than the national rate of 3.78%(SA). The highest annual rate was New York at 7.37%, followed by Chicago at 6.22%and Washington DCat 5.90%. Denver grew at the smallest rate at 0.92%, followed closely by Dallas at 1.02%. Tampa was the only area that experienced a decline from last year at a rate of -0 33%
Home Price Growth Leveling Off
By Census Division
A similar index, the Federal Housing Finance Agency Home Price Index (SA) publishes not only national data but also data by census division. The national year-over-year rate was 4.24%for November. Meanwhile, the division with the highest year-over-year rate was 7.67%in New England, while the lowest was 1.81%in West South Central. A three-month trend in rates is shown for each division below. The FHFA Home Price Index releases their metro and state data on a quarterly basis.
Cost t o Const ruct a Hom e Rose
Significant ly Over Last Tw o Years
Construction costs accounted for 64.4%of the average price of a new home in 2024 compared to 60.8%in 2022, according to NAHB?s most recent Cost of Construction Survey.
The latest finding marks a record high for construction costs since the inception of the series in 1998 and the fifth instance where construction costs represented over 60%of the total sales price
Broad inflation in the global economy since 2022 ? particularly in building material prices ? is largely to blame for the increased construction costs.
The finished lot was the second largest cost at 13.7%of the sales price, down more than four percentage points from 17.8%in 2022. The average builder profit margin was 11.%in 2024, up from 10.1%in 2022
Trum p Im poses Addit ional 25%
Tariff on Canadian Soft w ood
Lum ber
President Trump on Feb. 1 announced an across-the-board tariff of 25%on Canadian and Mexican goods coming into the United States, and these tariffs on building materials will raise construction costs and harm housing affordability.
The 25%tariff on softwood lumber products from Canada is in addition to an effective 14.5%duty rate already in place, meaning that the overall effective Canadian lumber tariffs will rise to nearly 40%.
NAHB Chairman Carl Harris issued the following statement in response to the White House action on tariffs:?On President Trump?s first day in office, he issued an executive order directing departments and agencies to deliver emergency price relief by pursuing actions to lower the cost of housing and increase housing supply.
This move to raise tariffs by 25%on Canadian and Mexican goods will have the opposite effect. More than 70%of the imports of two essential materials that home builders rely on ? softwood lumber and gypsum (used for drywall) ? come from Canada and Mexico, respectively.
?Tariffs on lumber and other building materials increase the cost of construction and discourage new development, and consumers end up paying for the tariffs in the form of higher home prices. NAHB urges the administration to reconsider this action on tariffs, and we will continue to work with policymakers to eliminate barriers that make housing more costly and prevent builders from boosting housing production.?
In the week prior to the president?s announcement, NAHB had been in contact with administration officials seeking a building materials exemption on the tariffs because of their harmful effect on housing affordability. In addition, NAHB sent a letter to the president stating that ?bringing down the cost of housing will require a coordinated effort to remove obstacles to construction, be they regulatory, labor or supply-chain related. NAHB stands ready to work with you to accomplish these goals.?
"NAHB has released a 10-point housing plan to remove the impediments to increasing the nation?s housing supply and we look forward to working with the Trump administration and Congress to enact sound policies that will allow builders to boost housing production and affordability.?
