33 Construction Industry Trends From 2,240 Surveyed Builders (2025 Study)

2,240 builders across four countries completed over 115 detailed questions about the inner workings of their building companies.

Research Overview

Below is a breakdown of the building company owners who participated in the 2025 SORCI study:

• 2,240 building companies were surveyed from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Canada.
• 64% of respondents focus on new homes, while 36% focus on large-scale renovation projects.
• Over 71.4% of builders now use fixed-price contracts, up from 67.6% in 2023, while cost-plus contracts declined slightly to 27.8%.
• 23% of all building companies involve or employ family members, up from 19.4% in 2023.
• More established builders tend to achieve higher gross markups, with those in business for over 10 years averaging 25% markup, compared to just 22% for newer businesses.

Construction Sales Trends

New construction sales improved slightly in 2024, but lead generation and closing deals remain a challenge for many builders. Here are the key building industry trends when it comes to sales:

• Only 47.1% of builders have a documented sales process, an increase from last year but still low.
• 65% of builders struggling with client expectations are not producing content, missing a key opportunity to educate potential clients.
• 52.9% of builders now charge for quotes, up from 45.6% in 2023, leading to higher-value contracts.
• 54.8% of builders rely on referrals for over 50% of their sales, a risky over-reliance on word of mouth.
• Only 10.5% of New Zealand builders signed more contracts in 2024 compared to 2023, a sharp decline from 25.9% last year.

Construction Marketing Trends

Despite clear financial benefits, marketing remains an underutilised strategy for many builders. Here are the latest construction marketing trends for 2025:

• 53.9% of builders struggling with lead generation do not produce any content, missing a major opportunity.
• The percentage of builders with a website increased to 91.7%, up from 87.9% in 2023.
• Builders who allocate 3% of their revenue to marketing achieve higher net profit margins, reinforcing the ROI of marketing.
• Builders using regular content marketing saw a 26% gross markup on jobs, compared to just 20% for those who don’t.

Construction Project & Planning Trends

With ongoing supply chain disruptions and rising labour costs, project planning remains a challenge. Here are the latest trends:

• 56.5% of builders now have a documented home handover process, up from 52.3% in 2023.
• 28.7% of builders now work on million-dollar-plus projects, up from 25.2% in 2023, reflecting inflation’s impact.
• Only 13% of builders dedicate time to working on their business, despite 40.5% saying they need to systemise.
• Builders who conduct post-project audits achieve a median net profit of 7%, compared to just 5% for those who don’t.

Construction Technology Trends

Technology adoption is rapidly transforming the residential construction industry, with more builders moving away from outdated systems in favor of specialised software that streamlines operations and improves efficiency. Here are the key technology trends for 2025:

• Project management software continues to dominate, with Buildertrend increasing its market share from 26.6% in 2023 to 30% in 2024. Meanwhile, reliance on spreadsheets has dropped to just 10.5%, signaling a shift toward more sophisticated digital tools.
• Estimating and takeoff software adoption is growing, as spreadsheet-based estimating fell from 25.8% in 2023 to 21.9% in 2024. More builders are turning to dedicated solutions like Buildxact and Buildertrend to reduce errors and improve efficiency.
• Workplace Health & Safety (H&S) software usage increased from 20.1% in 2023 to 26.9% in 2024, with New Zealand leading adoption at 71.1%. In contrast, only 5.1% of United States builders use dedicated H&S solutions.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) in construction is on the rise, with adoption reaching 37.8% in 2024. AI is most commonly used for marketing (27.6%), client communication (18.1%), and sales (13.3%), while a smaller percentage of builders apply it to project planning and takeoffs.
• Investment in software continues to grow, with 46.7% of builders increasing their software budgets in 2024, up from 43.8% last year.

Construction Financials Trends

Financial management remains one of the biggest challenges for residential builders, with many still failing to track key metrics like Work in Progress Accounting Adjustment (WIPAA), net profit margins, and fixed expenses. Here are the key financial insights from the 2025 SORCI Report:

• Salary practices are evolving, with 23.2% of builders earning more than $180,000 in 2024, up from 18.3% in 2023. However, inflation remains a major concern, with only 38.2% of builders giving themselves a pay rise last year.
• Net profit margins show mixed results. While 71.4% of builders are targeting net margins above 10% in 2025, only 33.5% actually hit that benchmark in 2024. Alarmingly, 24.9% of builders failed to make any net profit last year, compared to just 5.8% in 2023.
• WIPAA knowledge remains dangerously low. Only 11.4% of builders truly understand how to calculate WIPAA, despite 50.5% claiming they do. This lack of financial literacy leads to misreported profits and unnecessary tax payments.
• Builders who monitor gross margins outperform those who don’t. Companies that track gross margins monthly achieve a median net profit margin of 7%, compared to 3% for those who don’t.

Construction Team & Training Trends

Skilled labour shortages continue to impact builders, making hiring and training more important than ever:

• Only 20.6% of builders have a formal hiring process, leading to inefficiencies.
• The use of structured onboarding processes has increased, with 41.7% of companies now implementing formal systems. Larger companies are leading this trend, with 61.3% of businesses over $10M in revenue using structured onboarding, compared to just 29.4% of those under $3M.
• Just 39.6% plan to increase their training investment in 2025, despite forecasting business growth.
• Builders who engage a coach or mentor achieve a gross markup of 25%, compared to 21% for those without.
• Builders reading at least one business book per year achieve a 6.5% net profit margin, while non-readers achieve only 1%.

Building Industry Outlook: A Resilient Future

The 2025 SORCI Report paints a picture of an industry at a crossroads, with builders facing increasing costs, labour shortages, and the need for greater systemisation.

For building company owners, these insights aren’t just data points—they are a roadmap to making smarter decisions, improving profitability, and securing a competitive edge.

Want to discover over 70 more construction industry trends and statistics that could help your building company stand out from the competition this year? Download the full 2025 SORCI Report from the link below.