Housing Construction Hits Highest Rate in 13 Years Across U.S.

Posted By: Boston City Properties

According to a report released by the U.S. Commerce Department on January 17, the construction of new homes in the U.S. skyrocketed in December, reaching the highest level of such activity in 13 years. The new construction rate, which started surging in July, comes at a time in which the labor market is incredibly strong. Unemployment is lower than it has been in nearly half a century, and mortgage rates remain low and continue to fall. These factors have prompted a huge increase in demand for new housing – and that demand is at a fever pitch in Greater Boston.

As noted in the report, builders started construction on 1.61 million homes – the seasonally adjusted rate reflecting activity across the span of a whole year – as of December 2019. That figure represents an increase of 16.9 percent over the previous month, suggesting that a major construction boom is underway in many parts of the country.

The 1.29 million new housing units that were built in 2019 represents an increase of 3.2 percent over 2018. It’s the best showing since 2007, when 1.36 million new units were constructed. During that housing boom, the strongest year for new construction happened in 2005, when 2.07 million new housing units were built. According to the report, construction rates were up by 25.5 percent in the Northeast; by 37.3 percent in the Midwest; by 9.3 percent in the South; and by 19.8 percent in the West.

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