Prospective Buyers’ Expectations for Housing Availability Improve for First Time Since 2020
After falling steadily for five quarters, the share of prospective buyers expecting the home search to get easier in the months ahead grew from 17% to 22% between the first and second quarters of 2022. The increase is largely the result of easing competition among buyers getting priced out of the market by recent increases in mortgage rates. In contrast, 67% expect the search to get harder/stay the same, down from 74% in the previous quarter.
Another measure confirms that buyers’ perceptions of housing inventory pivoted in the second quarter of 2022. After declining for five straight quarters, the share of buyers seeing more homes available for sale in their markets turned around in the second quarter of 2022, rising to 28% from 23% a quarter earlier.
Rose Quint, NAHB assistant vice president for survey research, provides a regional breakdown on both metrics in this Eye on Housing post.
Latest from NAHBNow
Labor | Advocacy
Apr 24, 2026
Labor Department Proposes New Joint Employer Rule for Wage and Hour EnforcementThe Department of Labor (DOL) released the text of a proposed rule that would establish a nationwide standard for determining joint liability for under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, and Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
Advocacy
Apr 23, 2026
NAHB Applauds Lawmakers’ Push to Remove Harmful Mandate from Major Housing PackageIn a letter signed by 76 representatives, the Real Estate Caucus and the Build America Caucus called on House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to remove harmful provisions in the Senate-passed 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act that mandate the forced sale of single-family build-to-rent (BTR) housing.
Latest Economic News
Economics
Apr 22, 2026
State-Level Employment Situation: February 2026February’s labor market data point to a notable pullback in employment, with job losses concentrated across a majority of states and only modest gains elsewhere. While January showed solid momentum, February’s decline reflects emerging softness in hiring conditions, alongside uneven performance across the country.
Economics
Apr 21, 2026
Population Growth and Housing Supply Dynamics at the County Level in 2025U.S. population growth slowed notably in the latest Vintage 2025 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, with the nation expanding by just 0.5% in 2025, roughly half the pace of the prior year. The deceleration was primarily driven by a sharp decline in net international migration (NIM), which dropped from 2.7 million to 1.3 million, while natural change remained relatively stable.
Economics
Apr 20, 2026
Construction Workforce Shifts: Fewer Tradesmen, More White-Collar JobsThe long-running shift in the construction labor force away from construction trades and toward management, business, and technical roles is ongoing and gaining momentum, according to NAHB’s analysis of the latest 2024 data from the American Community Survey (ACS).