North Carolina Construction News staff writer
Buddy Hughes, a Lexington, N.C.-based home builder and developer with more than 45 years experience in the home building industry, has been elected 2025 chair of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
In 1984, Hughes opened a general contracting business, Hughes Construction, specializing in home building and light commercial construction. Since the 1990s, Hughes has trained hundreds of builders to install poured insulated concrete walls for all types of construction. Today, he continues to serve as a product specialist and consultant to the residential and commercial construction industry for both large and small projects.
“Our top priority this year will be to work with the Trump administration and Congress to enact policies to ease the nation’s housing affordability by helping builders to construct more homes and apartments,” Hughes said. “This includes policy changes such as repealing inefficient regulatory rules, speeding up permitting approval times and providing resources for skilled labor training to address the severe worker shortage in the construction industry.”
For decades, Hughes has been an active participant in the NAHB leadership structure at the local, state and national levels. He currently serves as a life delegate of the NAHB Leadership Council and has been a member of the NAHB Board of Directors for more than 20 years.
He has served on several NAHB committees and councils, including the Executive Committee, the State and Local Government Affairs Committee, the Budget and Finance Committee, the Building Systems Council and the Education Committee. In 2018, he was the Convention and Meetings chairman and was a member of the NAHB Leading Suppliers Council from 2007-2012.
Since 1993, Hughes has been an active member of the Davidson County Home Builders Association. He served as its president in 1998 and was named Builder of the Year in 1997 and 1998. He was also president of the North Carolina Home Builders Association in 2005.