Decline in illegal immigration driving up construction costs

Zillow’s Home Price Expectations (ZHPE) Survey found that 67.1% of surveyed housing experts believe construction labor costs will go up due to the decline of undocumented immigration in the U.S. 43.5% of respondents said fewer illegal workers means more U.S.-born or other legally authorized workers will enter the residential construction workforce, but 40% said that high labor costs will force homebuilders to shift to the higher-margin, luxury end of the market to see profits.

In the survey, more than half of the participants said the decline in single-family construction in the last 10 years was due to high labor costs and a lack of skilled workers. And 30.6% of survey participants said the declining number of undocumented workers will result in fewer new homes being built.