New and improved technologies developed during the war were quickly adapted for U.S. home construction, allowing homes to be built cheaper, faster, and in greater quantity. High speed machines produced large quantities of standardized, prefabricated window units, framing, stairs, and cabinets. New war-tested materials such as composition board, improved wall board, and weather resistant plywood reduced the cost of construction. Thanks to these technologies, it only took an average of two days to frame a new house, build the walls and roof, and install the windows and doors.

The volume of post-war home building was also impacted by the emergence of large-scale builders. Before 1945, a typical builder constructed fewer than five homes a year. As early as 1949, 70% of new homes nationwide were built by just 10% of home builders. By 1959, "the median single-family builder put up 22 structures" per year. (Kenneth Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States, 1985)