Zelman Insights

From Federal Threat to a More Manageable Regulatory Landscape

September 04, 2026 by Jesse Lederman

For much of the first half of 2026, one of the biggest questions hanging over the single-family rental industry was not rents, occupancy or housing supply, but Washington. Legislative proposals targeting institutional ownership of single-family homes created significant uncertainty around the industry’s ability to grow, contributing to a slowdown in acquisitions and other investment activity. Invitation Homes, for example, indicated that dealmaking slowed amid the uncertainty, while acquisition activity remained historically subdued...

Filed Under
Single-Family Rental

Where Did All the Empty Homes Go?

August 27, 2026 by Kevin Kaczmarek

About 10 years ago, the U.S. began to use its housing stock in what could be called a more efficient manner. More housing units became occupied by full-time residents, resulting in a shrinking share of units classified as "vacant" by Census Bureau's definition. These vacant units include a portion of homes available for sale or rent, second homes, units awaiting repairs, and units that otherwise remain unoccupied. Notably, based on Census ACS vacancy data (which differs a bit from Decennial Census data, as explained in our recent demographic report, A Decade Divided, over the five years ending in 2024, the vacancy rate for the U.S. declined by 260 basis points to 9.5%...

Filed Under
Homeownership

No Broad-Based Recovery Yet for Suppliers

August 13, 2026 by McClaran Hayes

Building products suppliers reported median organic revenue growth of just under 2% in 2Q26, accelerating from a 1% decline in the first quarter of the year. However, the better result was not driven by an underlying improvement in residential demand, but rather, a step-up in price realization following oil-spike driven cost increases. Additionally, a number of suppliers did benefit from market share gains in the quarter...

Filed Under
Building Products

The Housing Shortage Debate: What the Data Actually Tells Us

August 05, 2026 by Ivy Zelman

For much of this decade, one phrase has dominated conversations about housing: the housing shortage. It has become the default explanation for everything from elevated home prices to constrained affordability and tight inventory. While those challenges are real, they do not necessarily point to a single conclusion. Our latest research takes a fresh look at the demographic forces shaping housing demand, and the findings suggest the conversation deserves greater nuance...

Public Homebuilder Earnings Show Margin Resilience, but No Demand Inflection

August 03, 2026 by Alan Ratner

Second quarter homebuilder earnings have delivered a split verdict on the new home market. Among publicly traded homebuilders, which represent roughly 55% of the new home market, orders were a bit softer than we expected, but builders did a better job controlling costs and protecting margins than the order results alone would suggest...

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Homebuilding

A Decade Divided, The Troubling Trajectory of Demographics

July 23, 2026 by Ryan McKeveny & Kevin Kaczmarek

Is the housing shortage overstated? In our recently published report, A Decade Divided, The Troubling Trajectory of Demographics, we challenge the prevailing narrative of a severe housing shortage. Our analysis of declining birth rates, aging populations, and reduced immigration levels are leading to slower household growth projections for the coming decade.

While the first few years of the decade saw record household growth driven by immigration surges and pandemic-related factors, the market has shifted to a more balanced state with modest oversupply in multifamily housing and modest undersupply in single-family homes.

Our analysis argues that current market conditions indicate reasonable balance between supply and demand overall, while acknowledging ongoing challenges in providing truly affordable housing for the lowest income families.

Filed Under
New Home Sales

Manufactured Housing: Share Gains, But Not in a Straight Line

July 16, 2026 by Jesse Lederman

Manufactured housing remains one of the more compelling long-term affordability stories in housing, even if the near-term recovery is likely to be gradual rather than linear...

Filed Under
Manufactured Housing

Price Doing the Heavy Lifting for Supplier Growth; Still Not Enough for Margins

June 25, 2026 by McClaran Hayes

Building products revenue growth has been accelerating for the past four months. Specifically, days-adjusted revenue growth has inflected from a 3% decline in January to 2% growth in May. While acceleration throughout the first half of the year does appear to be a positive development, we believe the underlying trend is more nuanced...

Filed Under
Building Products

The Many Faces of Homebuilder M&A: What an Active Deal Market Means for Owners

June 22, 2026 by Tony McGill

Homebuilding M&A has entered one of its most active periods in memory. As our Research colleagues recently highlighted, much of the headline activity has centered on the arrival of large, patient, and often foreign capital, including Sekisui House’s acquisition of M.D.C. Holdings, Sumitomo Forestry’s acquisition of Tri Pointe Homes, and Berkshire Hathaway’s proposed acquisition of Taylor Morrison amongst the most prominent examples...

Homebuilding M&A Enters a New Phase as Private Consolidators Take Charge

June 12, 2026 by Alan Ratner

After a multi-decade period in which public builders steadily took market share from smaller private companies, reaching 53% of national new home sales in 2025, the most interesting development in homebuilding M&A today is not simply that consolidation is accelerating. It is who is doing the consolidating...

Filed Under
Homebuilding M&A