Real Estate Developer Daniel Kaufman Says the Builder Slump Is Splitting the Map, and the Midwest Is Holding
As builder confidence falls to its lowest level since June 2012 and 43% of builders cut prices, the Kaufman & Company founder says national averages are hiding which real estate markets still work
High resolution photo: https://daniel-kaufman-press-photos.netlify.app/WhatsApp_Image_2025-07-15_at_3_51_44_PM.jpeg
LOS ANGELES (Oct. 20, 2026) Daniel Kaufman, founder and CEO of the real estate and permanent capital holding company Kaufman & Company, said Monday's homebuilder confidence report shows a housing market that no longer moves as one, and that owners and builders should read it region by region rather than as a single national number.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell three points to 29 in October, its lowest reading since June 2012. NAHB reported that 43% of builders cut prices this month, the highest share in its records going back to 2020, with an average cut of 6%, and that 65% used sales incentives. Its gauge of buyer traffic fell to 18, the lowest since April 2012 outside the onset of the pandemic. The regional picture was uneven. On three month averages, the Midwest scored 40 and the Northeast 38, while the South scored 30 and the West 26.
"A national index averages a Midwest builder who is still selling homes with a Western builder who is cutting prices to move inventory, and right now those are two different businesses," Kaufman said. "The headline says builders are pulling back. The map says the markets that never got overpriced in the first place are holding up the way their fundamentals said they would."
Kaufman said this month's price cuts also carry a warning about future supply.
"When four in ten builders are cutting prices, the homes that do not get started this winter become the shortage two years from now," Kaufman said. "We look at land, jobs and housing supply market by market before we commit, and right now that work keeps pointing us toward places where incomes and home prices still line up. Owners who follow the local numbers instead of the national mood will be ready when buyers come back."
Kaufman & Company invests only its own capital and does not raise outside funds. Its housing businesses include DEK Builds, DK Homes, Design Build Affordable, Kaufman Development and LoneStar Kaufman, and it works alongside Oldivai, an aligned, independently led workforce housing partner focused on employer anchored communities. LandBriefing, a Kaufman Ventures platform, tracks land and housing fundamentals across U.S. markets.
About Kaufman & Company
Kaufman & Company (thekaufmanco.com) is a permanent capital holding company founded by Daniel Kaufman and the trade name of Kaufman Family Office LLC and Kaufman Real Estate & Consulting LLC. Its 10 operating companies are Convivium Living, DanReDev, DEK Builds, Design Build Affordable, DK Homes, Forge Development Partners, Kaufman Development, Kaufman Real Estate & Consulting, LoneStar Kaufman and Kaufman Ventures, whose portfolio includes BridgeStar, Meridian, LandBriefing, SpreadSight, FoundCheck, ServerDomes and Mr Good Container Homes. Oldivai is an aligned, independently led workforce housing partner. The platform represents more than $2 billion in project value and more than 10,000 housing units across more than 25 years of building, lending and investing.
Media Contact
Kaufman & Company
media@kaufmanredev.com
(341) 217-2580
###