In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, strong housing demand has provided builders with plenty of opportunities to begin construction on new homes, but labor shortages and global supply chain issues have made completing many construction projects difficult.
A recent report from LendingTree analyzed housing data to examine how four homebuilding-related variables changed from 2019 to 2021.
Key findings:
- Nationally, the number of housing units authorized by building permits increased by 25% from 2019 to 2021. The South saw the largest growth in units authorized by permits (27%), while the Northeast saw the smallest (19%).
- From 2019 to 2021, authorized housing units that started construction rose by 24% nationwide. Housing starts increased the most in the Midwest (27%) and the least in the Northeast (19%).
- The number of housing units that were authorized but didn’t start construction increased by 47% nationwide from 2019 to 2021. These increased most prominently in the Northeast, where they more than doubled.
- Though the number of completed housing units rose by 7% nationwide from 2019 to 2021, the number fell in the Northeast and West. In the Northeast and West, completed units fell by 9% and 2%, respectively. Conversely, the South and Midwest saw increases of 14% and 8%, respectively.
The takeaway:
Jacob Channel, LendingTree senior economic analyst says, “Though homebuilders have tried to keep up with demand for housing, numerous setbacks including rising labor and raw material costs have prevented them from actually breaking ground on many of the projects. This has exacerbated the lack of housing available on the market and put upward pressure on home prices.”
Click here to read the full report.
