"February 2026" Archives

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Commodity price volatility hits homebuilders as tariffs reshape costs

Commodity price volatility – driven by slow demand and tariff fallout – has sharply increased the cost of building materials. The single most significant factor driving Q4 2025 commodity prices was aggressive tariff implementation: Steel: 50% tariffs (implemented June 2025) Aluminum: 50% tariffs (implemented June 2025) Copper: 50% tariffs on products/components (August 2025) Lumber: 35.2%…

Noise vs. signal: Dallas/Fort Worth isn’t broken. It’s resetting.

Pessimists now tell you Dallas/Fort Worth housing is rolling over. Starts are down. Inventory is up. Margins are thinner than they were during the peak years of 2021 and 2022. This is technically true. It’s also a misleading conclusion. What the doomsday crowd overlooks is the distinction between a cyclical reset and a structural slowdown….

Existing home sales drop 8.4% in January as winter weather slows market

The pace of existing home sales slowed down dramatically in January as much of the nation experienced frigid temperatures and faced historic snowfall, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). In January, the pace of existing home sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.91 million homes, down…