Economic Growth Weakens in Q1 as Housing Share Declines

The 1.1% growth in real gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2023 is the lowest growth rate for the economy in the past three quarters.

Amid rising interest rates and an ongoing banking crisis, economic growth in the first quarter slowed to an annual rate of 1.1%. Housing’s share of the economy moved lower during the quarter, decreasing to 15.8% in the first quarter from 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the NAHB.

In the first quarter, the more cyclical home building and remodeling component – residential fixed investment (RFI) – decreased to 3.9% of GDP. Home construction was lower for most of the first quarter of 2023, despite recent upticks in starts. RFI subtracted 17 basis points from the headline GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2023.

For the first quarter, RFI was 3.9% of the economy, recording a $1.0 trillion seasonally adjusted annual pace. RFI decreased for the fourth consecutive quarter, down from $1.188 trillion in the first quarter of 2022 to $1.024 trillion in the first quarter of 2023.

For the first quarter, housing services represented 11.9% of the economy or $3.2 trillion on a seasonally adjusted annual basis.