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.

As of September 2023, the France-incorporated company Saint-Gobain was the second-largest construction company listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) with a market capitalization of approximately 34 billion British pounds. The leading construction company on the LSE was the Irish CRH, with a market cap of over 46 billion British pounds. Construction and materials companies on the exchange had a combined market capital value of 96 billion British pounds as of September 2024. CRH largest Irish company CRH, is an international group of enterprises which cover the construction process from materials and products, to distribution. CRH not only topped the London Stock exchange for construction companies, they are also the second largest company headquartered in Ireland in terms of turnover. London Stock Exchange As of June 2023, the London Stock Exchange had approximately 1,700 companies trading from more than 70 countries globally with a combined market capital of approximately 3.7 trillion British pounds (GBP). Seen as the heart of the global financial community, the London Stock Exchange is the second largest market in Europe and ranks eighth globally.

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.

Graph and download economic data for New Privately-Owned Housing Units Under Construction: Units in Buildings with 5 Units or More (UNDCON5MUSA) from Jan 1970 to Jan 2025 about 5-unit structures +, construction, new, private, housing, and USA.

The United Kingdom headquartered real estate company, Segro ranked first among the largest European real estate companies with a market value of approximately 12.8 billion U.S. dollars in May 5, 2023. Lundbergs from Sweden and CPI Property Group from Luxembourg completed the top three with 12 billion U.S. dollars and nine billion U.S. dollars. Covivio ranked highest among European real estate companies in terms of total assets. Real estate investments The European real estate market is a hotly contended investment opportunity, with high demand areas opportunities and opportunities for high returns on investments. In 2024, multiple cities across Europe have been identified as good prospects for investment. In terms of investment prospects, infrastructure and data centers have been identified as a particularly good target in 2024. Housing Market in Europe Europe has an ongoing battle to supply enough housing for a growing population. In 2022, France, Germany, and Poland had the most residential real estate construction starts in Europe.

The construction output price in the United Kingdom has reached an annual growth rate of two percent in September 2024. Construction costs have been increasing at a lower rate than in 2022 and 2023. The year-over-year growth rate reached over 10 percent in May and June of 2022. Public and private housing was the construction segment with the highest output price increase. How have material costs developed over the years? Several factors influence construction material costs, including supply and demand, regulatory requirements, and transportation logistics. Manufacturing efficiency and global trade policies also play a big part, along with economic factors like inflation and currency fluctuations. In June 2022, the price of construction materials for new houses in the UK were 53 percent higher than in 2015. What is the largest component of those costs? Labor costs are often one of the largest expenses in construction projects. That is due to the skilled nature of the work, which has a high demand for specialized trades. The construction sector's labor costs accounted for around 58 percent of the sector's earnings in the United Kingdom in 2023. In the past years, the size of labor costs as a share of the construction sector rose by more than three percentage points, indicating that labor costs have increased at a faster rate than the overall revenue of the industry.