Even so, the first-quarter data marked the 17th consecutive quarter that both the NAHB borrower survey and the Fed lender survey have been in negative territory. For homebuilders and developers, the alignment between the two series underscores that tighter credit is not anecdotal or lender-specific. It has been a broad, cyclical constraint on project pipelines since 2022, even as underlying demand for new homes has remained solid.
Leaders including CEO Robert Reffkin credited disciplined expense management and rapid integration progress for the results, highlighting early success in extracting synergies from the Anywhere deal. We achieved strong financial and operational results in our first quarter as a newly combined company.
In 2011, the Great Recession was technically over, but unemployment hovered near 9%, and the recovery felt insecure. Policy interventions like QE2 helped prevent a relapse, but reset the economics of affordability, leading to rising home prices.
PulteGroup compressed its Q1 2026 gross margin to 24.4%, compared with 27.5% in Q1 2025 and 24.7% in Q4 2025, reflecting a significant adjustment in response to market conditions.
The war in Iran, now in its ninth week, is still setting the tone. The war disrupted global oil supply, which pushes energy prices and inflation higher. Inflation doesn't just hit gas and grocery bills - it also spooks the bond market, which mortgage rates tend to follow.
In January 2025, Fortune Brands Innovations announced it was moving its company's portfolio from individual offices across the country to one central headquarters outside Chicago, which meant hundreds of employees would need to relocate, or else lose their jobs.
