U.S. Roofing Market Is in a Slump [2026 Update]

Housing starts are falling, homeowners are deferring projects, and asphalt shingle shipments are down. Now tariffs, the conflict in Iran, and immigration raids are squeezing roofing contractors from the other side.

The U.S. roofing market is in a slump, and the numbers are extremely clear. Asphalt shingle shipments fell about 10% year over year in the third quarter of 2025. Reroofing demand cooled across North America forcing a string of roofing companies to file for bankruptcy in early 2026.

The slump traces back to a stalled construction market, homeowner cost shock, and a set of geopolitical messes driving up the prices. Putting it all together explains why an industry built on replacement work is suddenly under strain.

U.S. Roofing Market at a Glance

The US roofing market size is still impressive despite the slump. Market research pegs the U.S. roofing market near $31.4 billion. The largest slice of the US roofing market is roof replacement with a staggering 63.5% share.

That replacement share is the single most important fact about the industry. It means that most roofing demand comes from roofs wearing out. New constructions make up a meagre 35 to 37% of the whole market.

US Roofing Trends and Changes

Asphalt shingle still dominates residential roofing with a 58.6% dominant share. Metal roofing, cool roof coatings, green roofing, and solar roofing are taking a slow, steady share of the market.

Based on our previous roofing industry report, awareness is compelling homeowners to choose energy efficiency and lower energy costs. Residential roof top solar companies are in a downturn because the 30% federal tax credit was eliminated. One example of this was Freedom Forever (second-largest solar installer) filing for bankruptcy in April 2026.

On commercial buildings, reflective and energy-efficient roofing systems are moving from niche to standard. Large, long-established roofing companies like Baker Roofing Company hold the market share and supply chain leverage that smaller firms cannot match.

With the unfortunate squeeze in the market, smaller companies might be forced out of business more readily. Early 2026 saw a list of companies filing for Bankruptcy including Ready Roofing LLC amongst others. And it's all tied to a construction slump.

Link Between Construction and Roofing

Roofing sits downstream of construction, so it moves when construction moves. Every new house and commercial building needs a roof meaning new construction is the first channel of demand for roofing. When housing starts fall, that channel narrows almost immediately.

But the bigger channel is repair and replacement, which runs on a different clock. Roofs installed years ago reach the end of their replacement cycles and fail on schedule. An aging housing stock feeds steady roofing demand even in a soft economy.

Furthermore, home sales usually trigger a wave of re-roofs, as sellers replace a tired roof for curb appeal and buyers demand it before closing. Unfortunately, that second channel is where the housing freeze bites hardest.

With existing-home sales at their lowest turnover in decades, the pre-sale replacement projects simply are not happening. So construction slumps are hitting the roofing industry twice:

• Fewer new builds shrink the new-roof channel. 
• Frozen sales are choke the replacement channel that normally holds the market up.

Construction Engine Has Stalled

U.S. housing starts dropped 15.4% in May 2026 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.18 million units, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Single-family starts were down 6.7% from a year earlier, while multifamily construction collapsed 40.2% in the month.

The NAHB pinned the decline on:

• Elevated mortgage rates. 
• Affordability for new owners.
• Rising construction costs.
• Persistent labor shortage. 

Fewer new homes means fewer new roofs, and builders are staying cautious. The number of single-family homes under construction sat at 587,000 units, nearly 6% below the prior year.

Furthermore, the existing-home market is frozen. Redfin found that roughly 28/1000 homes changed hands between January and September 2025. This was the lowest turnover since at least the 1990s.

With most owners locked into pandemic-era mortgages near 4%, they are not moving, not selling, and not putting a fresh roof on before a sale. This is causing a freeze in the roof replacement market, squeezing smaller residential roofing companies. Demand on retailer side recounts the same tale.

Homeowners Hit the Brakes

Home Depot missed Wall Street expectations for a third straight quarter in late 2025. They blamed a disruptive but deep funk in the housing market for the miss. Executives described customers who keep postponing big projects while they wait out the uncertainty.

CFO Richard McPhail in an interview to Fortune said "Our customers are homeowners," pointing to the uncertainty in the housing market and its impact on the attached industry. A roof is one of the largest checks a homeowner writes and the hesitation is pummeling the roofing industry. 

A quiet storm season stripped out the demand that usually cushions the industry. When the storms do not come, neither does the storm damage that fills an insurance claim and pays for a replacement. The chill is seeping to the manufacturers as well.

Roofing Manufacturers Confirm the Cooldown

Owens Corning, one of the largest U.S. roofing manufacturers, reported a 10% drop in revenue in the first-quarter 2026. Roofing sales fell 14% to $960 million, and the company said the U.S. asphalt shingle market shrank about 10%.

The culprit again was a light storm season and thin carryover demand. A calm year of weather spells doom for an $31.4 billion industry that relies on replacement work. Owens Corning expects reroof demand to stay solid but slightly down through 2026 without a major storm season.

Unfortunately 2026 has been a tumultuous year globally. With succinct tariff wars, global oil shortages, and constant wars, things are taking a turn for the worst.

Geopolitics Tightens the Vise

Roofing runs on asphalt, and asphalt is a petroleum product. In simpler words, the whole industry is tied to the price of oil. Owens Corning warned of roughly $60 million in added costs in the second quarter of 2026 from inflation tied to the conflict in Iran.

Half of that will land on roofing business, with increasing overheads and lowering profit margins. Other negative geopolitical events include:

• Oil and war uncertainty in the middle east.
• Dripping tariff impacts on cost and affordability.
• Local labor shortages post ICE operations.
• Lowering foreign labor.

Furthermore, tariffs are stacking on top and rippling through the supply chain. Owens Corning booked about $13 million in net tariff costs in a single quarter.

The NAHB has flagged building-material trade policy as a direct hit to construction budgets. Every dollar of tariff and fuel inflation eventually reaches the homeowner's estimate. Inflated costs are forcing homeowners to hold or stall roofing projects.

The most glaring impact has been on roofing labor. Immigration enforcement has struck roofing crews head on, and one Minnesota roofing company lost most of its crew after ICE arrests.

With the trade already short on skilled roofers, raids on the workforce are turning a shortage into a full standstill. The impacts are evident for roofing contractors.

Contractors are Going Under

Add cooling demand to rising costs, and the math breaks for a lot of roofing companies. A wave of contractors has filed for Chapter 11 in 2026, including:

• Ready Roofing in Jacksonville
• Ribbit Roofing in Fort Worth
• Snohomish Roofing in Washington

Ready Roofing alone listed more than $1.13 million in liabilities against just $116,903 in assets. The pressure points are consistent across the industry. In one contractor survey:

• 21% named rising material costs as a major challenge.
• 26% pointed to labor shortages.

Furthermore, insurers loom large in the wreckage, with State Farm listed as the biggest unsecured creditor in the Ready Roofing filing. Fortunately, this slump doesn't mean a collapse.

Reversible But No Quick Rebound

The roofing industry is still secure but companies with more liabilities are on shaky grounds. Roofs still age, leak, and fail, and most of the work is non-discretionary replacement rather than new construction.

That replacement base is the floor that keeps the roofing industry stable. Unfortunately, the floor in this industry doesn't mean a rebound. The reroofing indices tracked by the National Roofing Contractors Association sat below the neutral 50 mark in late 2025, signaling contraction in the steep-slope segment that covers most homes.

The U.S. roofing market looks set to grind through 2026 in low gear, unless:

• Mortgage rates ease
• Homeowners regain their nerve
• Hard storm season resets demand

The demand for roofs has been deferred, priced up, and squeezed from three sides at once. For the roofer on the ladder, that is the whole difference between a booked-out year and a bankruptcy filing. What does this mean for you?

What the Slump Means for Roofing

For the roofing industry, the slump is temporary but arduous like listening to chalk grating on a baord. Roofs still fail on schedule, so the jobs will not disappear. It's now a test of time to see which roofing companies can absorb higher costs and thinner demand long enough to still be standing when the market turns.

The roofers who survive will be the ones:

• Who quote tighter
• Buy smarter
• Keep cash on hand.

The ones leaning on storm-chasing and cheap credit will fold first. Expect consolidation, with stronger contractors buying up the work left behind by the roofing companies that go under.

For a roofing contractor trying to ride out the slump, a few moves matter most:

• Lock in asphalt shingle and roofing material pricing early, before tariffs and fuel inflation push it higher.
• Chase non-discretionary work, repairs, maintenance, and insurance-backed replacement over speculative new builds.
• Guard cash flow and avoid over-committing on trucks, crews, and debt.
• Watch the weather, since a heavy hailstorm season can flip demand overnight.

The price of a new roof is likely to climb even as demand softens, because the cost pressure comes from asphalt and tariffs. Brace yourself, prepare, make smart choices, and you will come out the other end without major damage.

FAQs about the U.S. Roofing Slump

Is the U.S. roofing market really in a slump?

Yes. Asphalt shingle shipments fell about 10% year over year in the third quarter of 2025, reroofing demand cooled across North America, and Owens Corning's roofing sales dropped 14% in early 2026. A rising count of roofing companies has also filed for bankruptcy.

Why is roofing slowing down in 2026?

Roofing follows construction, and construction has stalled. U.S. housing starts fell 15.4% in May 2026, homeowners are deferring big projects, and a quiet storm season removed the demand that usually keeps crews busy. Rising costs then squeezed contractors from the other side.

How are tariffs and geopolitics affecting roofing?

Asphalt is a petroleum product, so a roof's cost is tied to the price of oil. Owens Corning flagged roughly $60 million in added second-quarter 2026 costs from inflation tied to the conflict in Iran, plus about $13 million in tariff costs in a single quarter. Those increases eventually land on the homeowner's estimate.

Are roofing companies going bankrupt?

Several have. A wave of contractors filed for Chapter 11 in 2026, including Ready Roofing, Ribbit Roofing, and Snohomish Roofing. Surveys point to rising material costs and a labor shortage as the main pressures behind the failures.

Will roofing prices go up or down during the slump?

Prices are likely to rise even as demand softens. The cost pressure is coming from asphalt inflation and tariffs on building materials, not from busy crews. A weaker market does not guarantee a cheaper roof.

Will the U.S. roofing market recover?

The market has a floor, because replacement work makes up well over 80% of a roughly $31.4 billion industry and roofs keep failing regardless of the economy. A real rebound depends on lower mortgage rates, steadier homeowner confidence, or a heavy hailstorm season. Until then, 2026 is likely to stay soft.

Bottom Line On US Roofing Market Slump

The U.S. roofing market is in a real slump. A stalled construction market and cautious homeowners cut the demand, while tariffs, the conflict in Iran, and a thinner labor pool drove up the cost. Caught in the middle, weaker roofing companies are already filing for bankruptcy.

Still, replacement work is the lifeline of the whole industry, and roofs keep aging no matter what the housing market does. These market dynamics reward the disciplined roofer and punish the overextended one. Until mortgage rates ease or the storms roll back in, 2026 belongs to whoever can hold the line on cost and cash.