Home Building Geography Index (HBGI)

The Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) is a quarterly measurement of building conditions across the country and uses county-level information about single-family and multifamily permits to gauge housing construction growth in various submarkets. The second quarter of 2023 rollout of the HBGI focuses on the population density-based delineation of home building that has been the mainstay of the HBGI.

The latest findings illustrate that labor shortages, supply shortages and higher mortgage rates continue to drag down the housing market. In second quarter of 2023:

• Single-family home building experienced negative growth rates in all submarkets.
• The largest change in growth rate was in Small Metro – Core Counties, which fell from -21.5% to -23.7% over the quarter.
• Multifamily production also slowed, as four of the seven markets recorded negative growth rates. The lowest growth occurred in Large Metro – Core Counties (-10.6%) and the highest growth was in Non Metro/Micro Counties (26.6%).

Download the data file of the full HBGI findings here.

Regional Building Growth Conditions

NAHB classified all counties in the U.S. as one of seven regional categories based on population density and regional location. For each area, NAHB tracked single-family and multifamily growth rates (not seasonally adjusted) and market shares.