Report: NY Metro Leads US in Multifamily Construction Multifamily Units Accounted for 81.4% of New Housing in 2023

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According to a newly released report from construction industry research firm Construction Coverage, the New York metro area currently leads the nation in multifamily home construction.

The U.S. housing market remains a critical economic issue, with housing affordability and supply at the forefront of bipartisan policy agendas. Expanding multifamily housing—such as townhomes, condos, and apartments—offers one of the most effective solutions to both improving affordability and addressing the country’s current estimated shortfall of 4.5 million housing units.

To better understand which areas are building the most multifamily housing, researchers calculated the share of new privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in multifamily structures (those with two or more units) in 2023.

Key Takeaways

  • Higher-density housing is on the rise

  • States: In 42 out of 50 states, the share of new housing units authorized in multifamily structures was larger than the existing share of multifamily structures last year.

  • Nation: Overall, between 2009 and 2023, the share of new housing authorized that were multifamily units rose from 24.3% to 39.1%.

  • Existing multifamily housing in the NY metro: Currently, 57.8% of the existing housing units in the NY metro are classified as multifamily, compared to 28.6% of the nation’s existing housing stock.

  • New multifamily housing in the NY metro: Last year, 81.4% of new housing authorized in the NY metro were multifamily units, the largest share of any large U.S. metro.

  • You can read the full study here, including all sources. 

    Construction Coverage is a leading online publisher of construction industry research reports. Its work has been featured on CBS, Fox, USA Today, Bloomberg, Nasdaq, and more.

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