Housing's Share of GDP Grows in the First Quarter

Housing’s share of the economy increased at the start of 2022 as overall GDP growth declined at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter. Housing’s share of GDP increased to 16.7%.

Housing-related activities contribute to GDP through residential fixed investment (RFI) and housing services. 

RFI is the measure of the home building, multifamily development and remodeling contributions to GDP. It includes construction of new single-family and multifamily structures, residential remodeling, production of manufactured homes and brokers’ fees.

For the first quarter, RFI was 4.8% of the economy, recording a $1.18 trillion seasonally adjusted annual pace.

Housing services, which includes gross rents (including utilities) paid by renters, and owners’ imputed rent (an estimate of how much it would cost to rent owner-occupied units) and utility payments, represented 11.9% of the economy, or $2.9 trillion on seasonally adjusted annual basis.

NAHB Chief Economist Rob Dietz provides more analysis in this Eye on Housing blog post.