Overview
- Realtor.com estimates the U.S. housing gap reached 4.03 million homes in 2025, up from 3.80 million a year earlier.
- About 1.41 million households formed in 2025 as government data show 1.359 million housing starts and 1.498 million completions, both down from 2024.
- Affordability hurdles persist with a recommended $86,000 income to buy a median starter home, a $30,400 median down payment equal to 14.4% of price, and roughly seven years needed to save it.
- Builders face higher material costs, labor shortages and restrictive local rules, and a House‑passed Housing for the 21st Century Act now awaits a Senate vote to ease some building and lending constraints.
- Mortgage rates have eased this year but economists see limited room for further declines as Treasury yields jump on Middle East military escalations that lifted oil prices.