New Home Construction Statistics

With unprecedented labor and construction supplies shortages standing in the way, you would think new home construction is stagnant. In fact, according to data collected over the past two years, it’s on the rise from coast to coast.

Each month, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development release data reflecting trends in new residential construction. One of the leading indicators of construction trends is how many building permits are issued for new projects. Recently, we analyzed the data from 368 permit-issuing municipalities across the country, to understand new construction trends at both the national and local levels.

For each municipality, we focused our analysis on two periods: the number of permits issued in the first six months of 2020 and the number of permits issued in the first six months of 2021.

The national numbers show an undeniable boom in new residential construction. Over the past two years, permits issued increased 36 percent nationally, for all sized residential projects. For single-family homes, the increase was 30 percent. For large buildings containing five or more units, the increase was 21 percent. Also during this period, the average value of a newly constructed single-family home increased seven percent.

In the tables below we identify where in the U.S. single-family home construction and value has increased the most, and where construction of 5+ unit structures has increased the most.

For single-family home construction trends, we present:

1. the largest increases in permits issued among all municipalities;
2. the largest increases in permits issued among municipalities that issued 1,000 or more from January to June 2020;
3. the largest increases in permits issued among municipalities with 300,000 or more residents;
4. the largest increases in value per home among all municipalities;
5. the largest increases in value per home among municipalities with 300,000 or more residents.

For trends in construction of buildings with 5+ units, we present:

1. the largest increases in permits issued among all municipalities;
2. the largest increases in permits issued among municipalities with 300,000 or more residents.