How Likely Are Builders to Adopt Building Systems?

Committees and Councils
Published

Building systems have been a tenured history, but despite touting benefits such as decreased time, labor and materials, builders generally have been slow to incorporate them into their businesses.

Home Innovation Research Labs has been tracking the adoption of offsite housing in new single-family homes and multifamily projects for the past 20 years. The multifamily market has more readily incorporated offsite building methods than the single-family market, with a noticeable uptick in both in recent years. But even with this growth, as well as an increase in the number of concrete-framed homes, building systems still comprise only a sliver of the housing market.

So what are the barriers to more widespread adoption?

A survey by Home Innovations Research Labs last week points to uncertainty as a predominant factor among builders who are leaning away from offsite construction.

"There is a high degree of uncertainty in home building right now," shared Ed Hudson, MBA, director of Market Research at Home Innovation Research Labs. "Construction times are lengthening, supply chains have been disrupted, and labor supplies are less reliable than they had been in the past. With all that uncertainty, introducing offsite would be another big uncertainty to add to their business."

Last week's survey incorporated three additional questions related to COVID-19 and how the impact of the pandemic on builders' operations may have altered their attitudes about offsite. The majority — 72% — responded that their attitudes had not changed, while 9% said the current environment had caused them to lean away from offsite construction. Those whose attitudes leaned more favorably to offsite construction represented 19% of respondents.

Among the top reasons builders are responding more favorably to offsite construction in the wake of the pandemic include:

  • Utilizing factory-built components should make it easier to practice social distancing on the job site.
  • Reduced contact with builders, suppliers and vendors, and distancing of trade contractors on site reduces risks.
  • The new building environment is more complex, which could be resolved with the more predictable process of offsite construction.
  • As lumber and other supplies diminish and materials prices increase, offsite construction offers an opportunity to bring some cost control back to the industry.

Hudson will present the full findings of the survey, as well as comparisons to historical data and comparable surveys in 2020 and 2019, as part of the Building Systems Week webinar series to highlight trends in the industry. Learn more here.

Subscribe to NAHBNow

Log in or create account to subscribe to notifications of new posts.

Log in to subscribe

Latest from NAHBNow

Housing Affordability

Oct 21, 2025

The Fight for Housing Affordability: NAHB Spotlights Key Hurdles

NAHB CEO Jim Tobin recently appeared on the Builder Straight Talk podcast to highlight the housing affordability hurdles builders face in the current market, and how the Federation is working at the local, state and national levels to address them.

Sponsored Content

Oct 21, 2025

Why Builders Overpay for Land and How to Protect Your Margins

Land is the single largest cost driver in any home building project. But even experienced acquisition teams sometimes overpay. This is often the result of a lack of context and outdated data.

View all

Latest Economic News

Economics

Oct 20, 2025

Non-Conventional Financing for New Home Sales Loses Ground in 2024

Nationwide, the share of non-conventional financing for new home sales accounted for 31% of the market per NAHB analysis of the 2024 Census Bureau Survey of Construction (SOC) data. This is 1.7 percentage point lower than the 2023 share of 32.4%. As in previous years, conventional financing dominated the market at 69.3% of sales, higher than the 2023 share of 67.6%.

Economics

Oct 17, 2025

Better Growth, Larger Deficits: CBO Fiscal Outlook

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a key nonpartisan score keeper that measures the effects of policy changes by the Federal Government. With several policy changes since January of this year, including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), stricter immigration, and higher tariffs, the CBO updated its economic projections through 2028.

Economics

Oct 16, 2025

Amid Market Challenges, Builder Expectations Rise in October

Even as builders continue to grapple with market and macroeconomic uncertainty, sentiment levels posted a solid gain in October as future sales expectations surpassed the 50-point breakeven mark for the first time since last January.