The average price per square foot of floor space in new single-family housing in the United States decreased after the great financial crisis, followed by several years of stagnation. Since 2012, the price has continuously risen, hitting 168 U.S. dollars per square foot in 2022. In 2024, the average sales price of a new home exceeded 500,000 U.S. dollars. Development of house sales in the U.S. One of the reasons for rising property prices is the gradual growth of house sales between 2011 and 2020. This period was marked by the gradual recovery following the subprime mortgage crisis and a growing housing sentiment. Another significant factor for the housing demand was the growing number of new household formations each year. Despite this trend, housing transactions plummeted in 2021, amid soaring prices and borrowing costs. In 2021, the average construction cost for single-family housing rose by nearly 12 percent year-on-year, and in 2022, the increase was even higher, at close to 17 percent. Financing a house purchase Mortgage interest rates in the U.S. rose dramatically in 2022 and remained elevated until 2024. In 2020, a homebuyer could lock in a 30-year fixed interest rate of under three percent, whereas in 2024, the average rate for the same mortgage type was more than twice higher. That has led to a decline in homebuyer sentiment, and an increasing share of the population pessimistic about buying a home in the current market.

D.R. Horton was the homebuilder with the highest gross revenue in the United States in 2024. The Texas-based company reached a homebuilding revenue of 33.83 billion U.S. dollars. It was closely followed by D.R. Horton, which had its headquarters in Florida and generated a revenue of 33.78 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. fell in 2023, but it is expected to start growing again in the next years.New home sales follow the same trend After a fall in the number of new houses sold in 2021 and 2022, home sales have increased again, with those figures in the U.S. expected to reach 683,000 in 2024. The number of single-family homes started has followed a similar trend, and it is expected to increase in the next couple of years.