Lennar Corp. was the homebuilder with the highest gross revenue in the United States in 2023. The Florida-based company reached a homebuilding revenue of 32.5 billion U.S. dollars. It was closely followed by D.R. Horton, which had its headquarters in Arlington (Texas) and generated a revenue of over 32 billion U.S. dollars. Challenges to the residential construction marketThe number of private housing units started fell around the time of the global financial crisis (2007-2009), but has since recovered – though not to the heights of 2006. The value of residential construction in the U.S. has been increasing since 2011. However, that trend is expected to come to an end in 2023, as housing put in place is expected to decrease in the next years. That indicates that the revenues earned by home construction companies, such as D.R. Horton, may also be affected. New home sales follow the same trend Unsurprisingly, the number of new houses sold follows the same pattern. The property crash of 2008, which was a leading factor in the global financial crisis at that time, impacted residential property sales in the United States. Although this market has recovered slowly in the years after the financial crisis, the growth in the number of new houses sold has stopped, as home sales have fallen significantly in 2021 and 2022. The number of single-family homes started began to increase in 2012, which roughly coincided in time with the period of recovery of the real estate market, but it has also decreased more recently.

D.R. Horton was the leading homebuilder company in the United States based on the number of closings in 2023. Some of the other companies in the highest positions of the ranking that year were Lennar Corp. with approximately 73,100 closings, PulteGroup with around 28,600 closings, and NVR with 20,700 closings.

D.R. Horton was the homebuilding company with the largest share of single-family home closings in the United States in 2023. The two largest U.S. homebuilders, D.R. Horton and Lennar Corp., accumulated 24.6 percent of the closings that took place throughout the whole country that year. The third company with the largest market share was PulteGroup, but it was at an important distance from the two leading firms.

Subcontractor delays were the number one challenge for one third of respondents, according to a 2023 survey among home builders in the United States. Client selections decisions emerged as the second-biggest issue, according to almost 20 percent of the respondents.

Between 2021 and 2022, Barratt Developments was the company with the largest housing turnover in the United Kingdom. Taylor Wimpey was the second company in the ranking, with a housebuilding revenue of 4.3 billion British pounds. In fourth place, Bellway generated a revenue of 3.5 billion British pounds in 2022. However, that only refers to the turnover that those companies generated from housing activities. What is the outlook for the UK's home construction market? Although housing construction was expected to stagnate in 2024, over the coming years the number of homes built is expected to rise at a quick pace. The projected growth of housing starts in the UK is anticipated to be 46.7 percent higher in 2028 than in 2024. A rise in construction starts would be a good sign for the market, as there is a high demand for housing which, along with other factors, has fostered increasingly higher house prices in the UK during the past years. Who are the leading home builders in the U.S.? The market size of the home building industry in the United States is even bigger than in the UK. In 2023, Miami-based Lennar Corp. and the Texas-based D.R. Horton were the largest homebuilders in the U.S. with a revenue of over 32 billion U.S. dollars. Other builders, such as PulteGroup, Toll Brothers, and NVR were also prominent players in the residential construction industry, with much higher revenue figures than their UK counterparts. The value of new residential construction in the U.S. rose significantly from 2019 to 2022 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching about 910 billion U.S. dollars. However, the market is expected to decrease until 2025, which could impact the revenues of these home builders.

The sentiment of construction firms in the U.S. single-family housing market has been negative since September 2023, after improving significantly by July 2023. That was according to a monthly index that measures the sentiment among home builders in the United States. The index reflected a negative mood in the housing industry, as the sentiment was below 50 percent except in March and April 2024. As of November 2024, the index stood at 46, still higher than the negative value in late 2023, despite the recent decline.

Southeast was the region in the United States where D.R. Horton obtained the most of its home building revenue in the financial year ended in September 2023 with 8.7 billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, the revenue of the company in the North and Northwest only amounted to 3.18 and 2.58 billion U.S. dollars, respectively.

KB Home's total revenue has increased significantly between 2011 and 2023, although with some fluctuations. The U.S. home-building company generated over 6.4 billion U.S. dollars in revenue, while those figures amounted to 1.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2011. KB Home is headquartered in Los Angeles and primarily builds homes for first-time home buyers. KB Home is one of the leading home builders based on closings.

Idaho and North Caroline were in 2023 the U.S. states with the highest volume of new residential construction, with over nine units authorized per 1,000 residents. On average, that year in the U.S. there were 4.51 homes authorized per 1,000 residents. The most populous states in the U.S. tend to have the highest demand for housing.

The first six entries in the ranking of the 100 largest construction firms worldwide in 2023 had their headquarters in China. The combined revenue of the Chinese companies included in the list was higher than that of all other firms combined. CSCEC - China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd. - generated 320 billion U.S. dollars worth of revenue in 2023. When construction companies were compared based on market capitalization, however, France's Vinci dominated the construction market in the past years. Global Construction Industry There are many types of construction sectors that are considered part of the industry. Building, engineering, specialty construction and planning and development are a few sectors that comprise this booming industry. A large construction company like Vinci generated over half of its revenue from its energy segment, which is focused on the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of infrastructure, as well as on providing other related services. In general, China and Europe were the regions with the largest construction contractors by revenue. Construction Workers One of the most important aspects of construction is the workers and laborers that manage the industry on-the-ground. Hourly labor costs for construction industry workers are highest in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., weekly earnings of construction workers have increased dramatically since 1965, indicating their value to society and the industry.

In June 2024, there were less building permits for new residential construction in the United States a year earlier. In late 2022 and early 2023, there was the lowest number of building permits issued since the first half of 2020. The number of U.S. new home construction starts has also been lower than in previous years.

In the United States, the projected number of single-family housing unit starts in 2026 is estimated to increase. After a peak in 2021, the number of home construction starts decreased two years in a row. However, those figures are expected to pick back up in the next years. Single-family homes are the preferred option for Americans Single-family homes were the most common type of home purchased in 2023 in the United States, making up roughly 79 percent of all purchases, showing that demand for single-family units remains strong. That explains why there is usually a far higher number of single-family homes than of other type of homes being built any given year. There were roughly 350 multifamily homes whose construction started in 2024. Single family housing units in the United States The median size of a single family housing unit in the United States based on square footage has remained relatively consistent over the past two decades. The cost of housing varies around the United States. In 2023, the most expensive median price of an existing single-family home was on the West coast. However, it was in the Northeast where the median price of a new single-family home was the most expensive.

In 2021, close to ten percent of the 152.8 million homes in the United States were from the first decade of the 21st century. Between 2000 and 2009, approximately 14.6 million homes were constructed.

With revenue figures of nearly 9.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, DPR Construction was the largest construction contractor in the state of California. In 2021, AECOM a large construction company moved its headquarters to Texas, which is the reason why it does not show in this list. In total, 2 California-based construction companies made it to the list of largest construction firms for the United States.

In 2023, there were more new housing starts in the South of the United States than in every other region of the country combined. The West was the second region with the highest number of housing starts, which amounted to roughly 400,800 units in 2021. Northeast was the only region in the U.S. that experienced an increase in the number of housing starts in 2022.

The average construction cost of a single-family home in the United States was about 428,000 U.S. dollars in 2024, about 36,000 U.S. dollars more expensive than in 2022. The source also adds that interior finishes – which includes insulation, flooring, and appliances – accounted for the largest share of costs at 24 percent. U.S. housing construction slows Construction work was underway on over 1,000 single-family housing units in the United States in 2024. This number increased year-on-year between 2011 and 2021, followed by a notable decline in the next two years. Despite this trend, the industry experts are optimistic about construction levels picking up until 2026. The median size of a new single-family home has also shrunk. In 2023, the average home had approximately 2,300 square feet of floor space, about 200 square feet less than in 2015.
How many homes are sold each year in the United States? Less than five million homes were sold in the United States in 2023, the majority of which were existing home sales. The median sales price of an existing single-family home was 389,000 U.S. dollars in that year, a figure that has risen steadily since 2011. Those in the market for a newly constructed single-family home will have to pay more, with the median sales price at 427,000 U.S. dollars in 2022.

The consumer price of housing in urban areas of the United States increased by over six percent in 2023. That was the second-largest increase on a year-over-year basis since 2000. Meanwhile, 2009 was the only year in which housing prices decreased. One of the main reasons for that may have been the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007. During that period, the value of new residential construction put in place in the U.S. stagnated.

The median sales price of an existing single-family home in the United States reached almost 389,300 U.S. dollars in 2023 – the highest price on record. The sales price has risen year-on-year since 2011, increasing by over 100,000 U.S. dollars between 2019 and 2023. Location, location, location Regional differences in the median sales prices of existing single-family homes were evident across the United States. The cheapest region is the Midwest; the most expensive region is the West. An existing home in the West cost over 100,000 U.S. dollars more than in the Midwest. Prices surge due to housing shortage A lack of properties on the market is one reason why the prices of existing single-family homes are rising across all regions of the United States. The shortage in housing comes despite increases in both the number of new single-family units being authorized by building permits and new single-family housing unit starts. Homebuyers in the United States will have to pay top dollar should they want a new single-family home.

The state of New York was home to some of the largest construction firms in the United States in 2023, with the Turner Corp. generating a revenue of 17 billion U.S. dollars. That revenue made it the largest construction contractor in the United States as a whole. Sto Building Group Inc. had a revenue of 11 billion U.S. dollars and ranked second in the New York State.

The two metropolitan areas with the highest value of new residential construction in 2023 were in Texas. Those two areas, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, were the only ones in the United States where new homes built were worth over 15 billion U.S. dollars. Those figures were significantly higher than the following entries in the list, the areas around Phoenix (Arizona) and in New York, where home construction amounted to over ten billion U.S. dollars.