NAHB: Median Lot Value Stabilizes

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The National Association of Home Builders, Washington, D.C., found that after a recent spate of increases, the national median lot value for single-family detached spec homes stabilized last year.

Per the association’s analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction, the U.S. median lot value for homes started in 2025 was $59,000, compared with $60,000 in 2024. This is the first year since 2019 without a new national high.

However, there are significant regional differences. Values continued to notch record highs in the Pacific, Mountain, Mid-Atlantic and East North Central Census divisions. (NAHB notes that the Census Bureau’s estimates for divisional figures feature smaller sample sizes with wider margins of error and are best viewed as directional).

The Pacific (estimated at $171,000) and New England (estimated at $150,000), are the two divisions with the most expensive lots. Mid-Atlantic is next at $100,000, followed by Mountain at $95,000 and East North Central at $80,000. West North Central is estimated at $70,000; West South Central is estimated at $56,000, and East South Central and South Atlantic are both estimated at $50,000.

Inflation-adjusted lot values remain well below the peaks reached during the 2005-2006 housing boom. The national median during that period was $43,000, which would be $68,700 in 2025 dollars when adjusted for inflation.

But, lots are also becoming smaller. Sixty-four percent of spec home starts in 2025 were on lots smaller than one-fifth of an acre, similar to 65% in 2024. That compares with 2005, when lots of that size had only 48% of spec home starts.