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Housing Starts Rise Overall as Multifamily Construction Ebbs

U.S. homebuilding surged in December to its highest rate in more than 14 years, according to Commerce Department figures. However, the gains occurred solely in single-family as multifamily starts dropped 13.6% compared to the previous month.

Total housing starts for all of 2020 were 1.38 million, a 7% gain over the 1.29-million total from 2019. Single-family starts were up 11.7% year over year. Multifamily starts for 2020 were down 3.3% from 2019, and the sector saw a comparable Y-O-Y decline in permits.

December’s annualized pace of 1.34 million single-family starts represents “the highest since September 2006,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders. “And while NAHB is forecasting further production increases in 2021, the gains will be tempered by ongoing supply-side challenges related to material costs and delivery times, a dearth of buildable lots and regional labor shortages that continue to exacerbate affordability woes.”

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

  • ◦Economy
  • ◦Development
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