Alex Ford and Jiachuan Wu at NBC:
An NBC News analysis of building materials and import data found that the total cost of building a mid-range single-family home could rise by more than $4,000 — an estimate that industry experts who reviewed the analysis called conservative. An April survey from the National Association of Home Builders estimated tariff impacts at $10,900 per home. Neither analysis included labor costs.
Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, said the tariffs have an impact beyond their direct cost as they send uncertainty rippling through the supply chain and leave builders unsure how to plan for the future.
“About three-quarters of home builders right now are having difficulty pricing their homes for buyers because of uncertainty due to construction input costs,” Dietz said.
The United States remains in a housing shortage that has driven up costs. The NBC News Home Buyer Index, which measures how difficult a local housing market is, has remained at an extreme difficulty level for more than two years. And conversations about how to encourage building more housing has become a major part of U.S. political discussions, especially among some Democrats.