In December 2025, private residential building spending increased by 1.5%.
This slight increase was mostly driven by higher spending on home upgrades and single-family housing.
Despite this increase, total spending was 1.3% lower than a year before, indicating that the sector’s home affordability issues persist.
According to the most recent U.S. Census construction spending data, single-family construction spending increased by 1.6% in December, keeping with the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index’s (HMI) low builder optimism.
Single-family construction spending fell 3.6% compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, multifamily construction spending rose by 0.1% in December, marking the ninth consecutive month of modest improvements.
Multifamily spending increased by 2.9% year on year.
Improvement spending (remodeling) increased 1.8% for the month but was flat compared to the previous year.
The graph above depicts the NAHB construction spending index.
The indicator shows how single-family construction investment has declined since early 2024 as a result of rising interest rates and concerns about building material tariffs.
After peaking in July 2023, multifamily construction spending growth has declined, with the index basically plateauing since late 2024.
Improvement spending, on the other hand, has been increasing since the start of 2025.
Private nonresidential building spending fell by 1.8% compared to the previous year. The annual fall in private nonresidential investment was mostly due to a $26 billion loss in manufacturing construction spending, followed by a $2 billion drop in healthcare construction spending.
[Read more about this topic on Eyeonhousing.org]