Building materials made of steel, copper and other metals had some of the highest price growth rates in the U.S. in the first half of 2025 in comparison to the previous year. The growth rate of the cost of several construction materials was slightly lower than in late 2024. It is important to note, though, that the figures provided are Producer Price Indices, which cover production within the United States, but do not include imports or tariffs. This might matter for lumber, as Canada's wood production is normally large enough that the U.S. can import it from its neighboring country. Construction material prices in the United Kingdom Similarly to these trends in the U.S., at that time the price growth rate of construction materials in the UK were generally lower 2024 than in 2023. Nevertheless, the cost of some construction materials in the UK still rose that year, with several of those items reaching price growth rates of over **** percent. Considering that those materials make up a very big share of the costs incurred for a construction project, those developments may also have affected the average construction output price in the UK. Construction material shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic During the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, there often were supply problems and material shortages, which created instability in the construction market. According to a survey among construction contractors, the construction materials most affected by shortages in the U.S. during most of 2021 were steel and lumber. This was also a problem on the other side of the Atlantic: The share of building construction companies experiencing shortages in Germany soared between March and June 2021, staying at high levels for over a year. Meanwhile, the shortage of material or equipment was one of the main factors limiting the building activity in France in June 2022.

The average construction cost of a single-family home in the United States was about ******* U.S. dollars in 2024, about ****** 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 ** 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 ***** square feet of floor space, about *** square feet less than in 2015. How many homes are sold each year in the United States? Less than ************ 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 ******* 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 ******* U.S. dollars in 2022.

Starts and completions of new build dwellings in the UK, on a quarterly and annual basis, time series data

In 2023, Sweden and Finland were among the countries with the highest number of heat pump sales per 1,000 households in Europe. Finland sold nearly ** heat pumps for every thousand households, and Finland sold ** heat pumps for every 1,000 households. Denmark had sold nearly ** heat pumps per 1,000 households in 2022, but those figures were lower the following year. However, France was the country with most overall heat pump sales in Europe.