According to the September 2026 NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) survey, 47% of builders reported experiencing labor shortages.
While builder-reported shortages had steadily declined since the height of the pandemic, that figure has now ticked up 5 percentage points since the NAHB’s last survey on the subject in 2025.
The sharpest decline in workers occurred among framing crews (up 9 percentage points to 57%), landscapers (up 7 points to 39%) and roofers (up 6 points to 36%).
This continues for subcontractors, with over half of all surveyed builders at a loss for framers, rough and finished carpenters, bricklayers and concrete workers.
As labor is harder to find, it is more expensive to employ as well. NAHB survey respondents indicated that the cost of labor has increased by 4.2% over the year.
