Home Builder Stocks Screener Excel: May 2026 Housing Affordability Dashboard

This free six-sheet Excel template screens 16 US home builder stocks (including DHI, LEN, NVR, PHM, and TOL) on forward P/E, ROE, gross margin, revenue growth, and debt-to-equity, and combines them into a 0-100 composite score. It also stress-tests mortgage rates from 5.5% to 8%, sizes positions against your portfolio, and compares the builders with the XHB, ITB, and PKB ETFs, SPY, and IWM. Every data cell in the live version is a MarketXLS formula such as =ForwardPERatio("DHI") or =ReturnOnEquity("DHI"), so the dashboard refreshes when you press F9. The snapshot below was captured on May 27, 2026, when 30-year mortgage rates were in the high 6% range and the Fed was on pause.

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IntroductionHistorical DataOptions DataUse-cases

The headline data table sits above the fold so you do not have to dig through the workbook to get the punchline.

Home builder stocks at a glance - May 2026 snapshot

That table is the central screener output of the template. A few things jump out. First, the universe trades cheap on earnings (median Forward P/E around 8.5x) but at a real premium to book in select names, with NVR at 4.85x book and a 35.8% ROE, the highest in this group. Second, gross margin leadership is no longer just the luxury names. Green Brick Partners (GRBK) and PulteGroup (PHM) both clear 27% gross margin, which historically was Toll Brothers (TOL) territory. Third, even after a two-year run of strong order growth, the entry-level operators (DHI, LEN, KBH) are growing revenue more slowly than the move-up and luxury operators (TOL, DFH, GRBK). That sets up a real question: do you own the highest quality, the cheapest, or the fastest growing?

The template ranks all 16 builders on a composite score (low Forward P/E, high ROE, high gross margin, high revenue growth, low debt-to-equity), but it also gives you the raw numbers so you can rebuild the ranking your own way.

What this home builder stocks screener Excel template includes

The download is two files - a static sample with values captured on 2026-05-27, and a live MarketXLS formula template. Both contain six worksheets:

• How To Use - the orientation page, with a glossary of every MarketXLS formula used and a refresh checklist
• Main Dashboard - the screener table with quality, valuation, and momentum columns, plus a composite score column that uses Excel RANK functions to combine five metrics into a 0-100 score
• Mortgage Scenarios - a what-if table that shows monthly payment, required household income, affordability gap versus a $90k household, and an illustrative builder margin sensitivity across six mortgage rate scenarios
• Backlog & Margin - dollar backlog, average selling price (ASP), gross margin, operating margin, and revenue growth, with a "cycle tag" column that labels each builder Expanding, Steady, Decelerating, or Contracting
• Portfolio Allocation - takes Portfolio Size, Max Position, Target Builder Allocation, and Risk Tolerance from the Main Dashboard and produces dollar sizes and share counts for every builder
• Builders vs ETFs - compares the builder names to XHB (SPDR Homebuilders), ITB (iShares Home Construction), PKB (Invesco Building & Construction), SPY, and IWM, including a beta-adjusted relative strength snapshot

Every sheet ends with a "MarketXLS Functions Used in This Sheet" block, so you know exactly which formulas drive each column. That makes it easy to copy a formula into your own spreadsheet later.

The mid-2026 housing setup

The reason a builder screener earns its keep this year is that the macro is unusually noisy. Mortgage rates have been stuck in a 6.4% to 7.1% band since last summer. The Fed paused in May 2026 after a year of hawkish hold language. Builders have been spending more on incentives - rate buy-downs of 100 to 150 basis points are common across DHI, LEN, KBH - to keep entry-level demand alive. Existing home inventory remains thin because owners with sub-4% mortgages are not moving, which channels demand toward new construction. That mix has favored the listed builders, but it is unstable. Any move in the 30-year that drags rates back over 7.25% changes the math overnight.

A screener is the right tool here because it lets you keep score across the whole universe rather than betting on one name. The template separates four things that get mashed together in most stock-pitch decks:

1. Quality, measured by ROE, ROIC proxy, gross margin, operating margin, and balance sheet leverage
2. Valuation, measured by trailing P/E, forward P/E, price-to-book, and dividend yield
3. Cycle position, captured by revenue growth and backlog
4. Market relationship, captured by beta, the dedicated homebuilder ETFs, and broad market

Each of those has its own column on the Main Dashboard, and each one is a MarketXLS formula in the live template.

How the screener is built - formulas you can lift

Every data column on the Main Dashboard uses a verified MarketXLS function. The exact list:

=QM_Last("DHI")                Current price
=PERatio("DHI")                Trailing P/E
=ForwardPERatio("DHI")         Forward P/E
=PriceToBookValue("DHI")       Price / book
=ReturnOnEquity("DHI")         ROE %
=GrossMargin("DHI")            Gross margin %
=OperatingMargin("DHI")        Operating margin %
=RevenueGrowth("DHI")          YoY revenue growth %
=TotalDebtToEquity("DHI")      Total debt to equity
=Beta("DHI")                   Beta vs S&P 500
=MarketCapitalization("DHI")   Market cap (USD)
=DividendYield("DHI")          Dividend yield %
=FiftyTwoWeekHigh("DHI")       52-week high

Formula documentation: QM_Last, PERatio, ReturnOnEquity, GrossMargin, OperatingMargin, RevenueGrowth, TotalDebtToEquity, Beta, MarketCapitalization, DividendYield, FiftyTwoWeekHigh

The composite score column is pure Excel. It combines five RANK calls into a single number on a 0-100 scale. The shape of the formula is:

=ROUND(
   100
   - (RANK(FwdPE, FwdPE_range, ascending=1) - 1) * 4
   - (RANK(ROE, ROE_range, descending=0) - 1) * 3
   - (RANK(GrossMargin, GM_range, descending=0) - 1) * 3
   - (RANK(RevGrowth, RG_range, descending=0) - 1) * 3
   - (RANK(DebtEq, DE_range, ascending=1) - 1) * 3, 1)

Formula documentation: GrossMargin

Lower Forward P/E ranks higher (so we rank ascending and subtract the penalty). Higher ROE, gross margin, and revenue growth rank higher. Lower debt-to-equity ranks higher. The weights are illustrative - you can edit them in the workbook to tilt the score toward whatever factor matters most to you.

The mortgage rate scenario sheet

The most useful sheet for the current market is probably the Mortgage Scenarios tab. The model has just two parts:

The monthly principal and interest uses Excel's PMT function:

=PMT(rate/12, term_years*12, -loan_amount)

For a $400,000 home with a 10% down payment and a 30-year term, the math at six different rates looks like this:

The required income climbs roughly $4,800 for every additional 50 basis points of mortgage rate. Builders close the gap with two levers - smaller homes (compressing ASP) and rate buy-downs (compressing margin). The illustrative builder margin impact column in the workbook estimates 150 basis points of gross margin pressure for every 100 basis points of rate increase above 6.5%, and the reverse on the way down. It is a directional estimate, not a forecast. Use it to ask the right questions on a builder's next earnings call.

The backlog and margin watch sheet

Builders are cyclical, and the cycle is in their dollar backlog. The Backlog & Margin tab carries each builder's most recent reported dollar backlog (Billions), average selling price (in thousands), gross margin, operating margin, and revenue growth. A simple formula in the rightmost column labels each builder using revenue growth as the cycle proxy:

=IF(RevGrowth >= 6, "Expanding",
 IF(RevGrowth >= 3, "Steady",
 IF(RevGrowth >= 0, "Decelerating",
                    "Contracting")))

The "Backlog / Market Cap" column gives you a rough multiple that some investors use as a sanity check on how much future revenue is already on the books. NVR consistently runs a smaller backlog relative to its market cap because of its variable-cost land option model. DHI and LEN run larger backlogs because of their absolute size. Beazer (BZH), KB Home (KBH), and Century Communities (CCS) backlog ratios move the most during the cycle, which is one reason their beta runs in the 1.5 to 1.9 range.

The portfolio allocation sheet

If you decide the builder universe is worth a slice of your portfolio, the Allocation sheet does the bookkeeping. It pulls four cells from the Main Dashboard:

• Portfolio Size
• Max Position Weight
• Target Builder Allocation
• Risk Tolerance

The builder sleeve size is the simple product of Portfolio Size and Target Builder Allocation. Each builder then gets allocation share equal to its composite score divided by the sum of all scores, capped at Max Position Weight. The live MarketXLS price feeds into the share count calculation:

Shares = ROUNDDOWN((Score Share % * Sleeve $) / QM_Last(ticker), 0)

Formula documentation: QM_Last

So if you change the portfolio size from $500,000 to $750,000, or move the max position from 5% to 8%, every row updates. The Risk Tolerance input does not drive any formula by itself but the sheet's hint box gives you tilts: lower-risk users may overweight NVR, TOL, and MTH (higher ROE, lower debt, larger backlogs), higher-risk users tilt toward operating leverage names like BZH, DFH, CCS, and KBH.

The ETF comparison sheet

The Builders vs ETFs sheet anchors the universe against five reference ETFs. The key columns are price (via QM_Last), year-to-date percentage return (via PercentageChange), P/E, dividend yield, and beta. Three ETFs are home-builder-specific:

• XHB weights builders alongside building products, appliance makers, and home furnishings
• ITB is more pure-play with builders making up roughly two thirds of weight
• PKB is broader, including aggregates, cement, and infrastructure construction

The correlation column is an illustrative trailing-1-year value against DHI, color-coded so it is easy to see which ETFs move closely with the screener universe. The bottom block computes a beta-adjusted relative strength ratio for the top eight builders versus SPY. A rising series means the builder is outperforming after accounting for market sensitivity, which is a cleaner read than raw price ratio when beta differs from one.

How to use the template in practice

A repeatable weekly cadence with this workbook might look like this:

1. Open the workbook in Excel with MarketXLS installed (Windows desktop add-in; on Mac or Excel for the web the Microsoft 365 add-in uses the mxls. prefix, for example =mxls.Last("DHI"))
2. Press F9 to refresh every formula across all six sheets
3. Sort the Main Dashboard descending on Composite Score
4. Look at the top quartile, then check each of those names on the Backlog & Margin sheet for cycle tag
5. Skim the Mortgage Scenarios tab and ask: which scenario does the next month's data point support?
6. Update the Portfolio Allocation inputs if your portfolio size or risk tolerance has changed
7. Watch the Builders vs ETFs sheet for relative strength shifts that might call for a regime change

The point of the template is not to pick "the one stock to buy" - it is to keep a structured view of the whole sub-sector on one page so you can react when something material changes.

Where builders fit in the broader May 2026 market

The S&P 500 is up double digits year-to-date again, led by AI infrastructure and the larger Magnificent 7 names. Inside the cyclical sectors, home builders have been a quiet workhorse, with XHB outperforming the broader SPY into late May despite mortgage rates near 6.5%. The drivers are a familiar set: thin existing home inventory, builder buy-downs that lower the effective mortgage rate by 100 basis points, and steady mid-single-digit revenue growth across the universe. None of that guarantees the next quarter will look like the last one. A move in the 10-year Treasury yield back toward 5%, a re-acceleration in shelter inflation, or a hard turn in mortgage purchase applications would shift the math on the Mortgage Scenarios tab in real time.

A screener built on formulas updates when the data changes, while a static research deck does not. The composite score, the cycle tag, the affordability gap, and the position sizing all reflect the latest values rather than the values that were true the last time the report was published.

Download the templates

• - Pre-filled with illustrative values for 2026-05-27 and a column showing the exact MarketXLS formula behind each number
• - Every data cell wired to live MarketXLS formulas; press F9 in Excel to refresh

Both files open in any version of Excel. The live version requires MarketXLS installed and logged in; the Windows desktop add-in runs the formulas as written, while the Microsoft 365 add-in (Mac, Excel for the web) uses mxls.-prefixed formulas.

FAQ

What are the largest publicly traded home builders in the United States?

D.R. Horton (DHI) and Lennar (LEN) are the two largest US home builders by homes closed. The template covers them along with NVR Inc (NVR), PulteGroup (PHM), and Toll Brothers (TOL), plus 11 additional names spanning entry-level (KBH, LGIH), move-up (MTH, TMHC, TPH), small-cap (GRBK, DFH, CCS, BZH), and manufactured-home makers (CVCO, SKY).

How do mortgage rates affect home builder stocks?

Mortgage rates move both demand and gross margin. Higher rates raise the monthly payment required for a fixed home price, which shrinks the pool of qualified buyers and forces builders to spend more on rate buy-downs and incentives. Buy-downs reduce reported gross margin. Lower rates work in reverse, lifting demand and easing the need for incentives. The Mortgage Scenarios sheet quantifies the income required to qualify for a $400,000 home across six rate environments and shows an illustrative builder margin impact.

Is the MarketXLS template free to download?

The static sample workbook is free to download. Refreshing MarketXLS formulas in the live workbook requires a paid MarketXLS subscription. The static sample opens in any version of Excel without any add-in. The live formula version requires MarketXLS to be installed and logged in for the QM_Last, ReturnOnEquity, and other formulas to refresh.

What is the difference between XHB and ITB?

XHB is the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF and ITB is the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF. XHB is more diversified, with builders making up roughly a third of weight and the rest spread across building products, appliances, and home furnishings. ITB is more concentrated in pure-play builders, with the top five names typically making up over half of weight. PKB is even broader, including aggregates and infrastructure construction. The Builders vs ETFs sheet in the template compares all three plus SPY and IWM side by side.

Can I add or remove builders from the screener?

Yes. Open the Main Dashboard, insert a row inside the ticker block, type the ticker in column B, and copy the formulas from any existing row across all data columns. The composite score formula uses RANK across the visible range, so it will incorporate the new row automatically. The Portfolio Allocation sheet references the Main Dashboard by row index, so if you change the table size, you may need to extend its formula range too. The How To Use sheet has a short note on this.

What composite score formula does the workbook use?

The composite is a weighted rank-sum. Each builder is ranked across five factors - Forward P/E (lower is better), ROE (higher is better), gross margin (higher is better), revenue growth (higher is better), and debt-to-equity (lower is better) - and the ranks are combined with weights of 4, 3, 3, 3, and 3 respectively. The result is mapped onto a 0-100 scale and color-coded with a green-to-red heatmap so the highest-scoring names stand out.

Is this investment advice?

No. The template, the data, and the analysis in this post are educational. They are designed to help you build a structured view of the home builder universe and ask better questions on each builder's next earnings call. Always do your own work before sizing a position, and consider your own time horizon, tax situation, and risk tolerance.

The bottom line

A home builder stock screener in Excel is most useful when it combines fundamentals with rate scenarios and position sizing. The download in this post pulls together live valuation, profitability, cycle, and market relationship data in one place, and it ties together a mortgage rate sensitivity table with a position sizer so the workbook stays useful from idea generation through portfolio construction. For the mid-2026 housing setup (rates above 6%, the Fed on pause, thin existing home inventory), it keeps the whole sub-sector on one page.

If you want to extend this kind of workflow to other sub-sectors, MarketXLS has more than 1,000 Excel functions covering quotes, option chains, financial statements, technicals, and historical prices. See the function reference and pricing, or book a demo.