What percentage of the US economy is housing?
Also asked, what percentage of the economy is real estate?
6.2%
In this regard, how important is housing to the economy?
In summary: Rising house prices, generally encourage consumer spending and lead to higher economic growth – due to the wealth effect. A sharp drop in house prices adversely affects consumer confidence, construction and leads to lower economic growth. (falling house prices can contribute to economic recession)
Housing markets operate differently in varying economies. During a strong economy, the housing market is usually healthy. Then when interest rates rise, fewer people buy. If people default on their loans, which tends to happen with adjustable-rate mortgages when the rates rise, there could be a rise in foreclosures.