Construction Coverage has released its new 2024 report on multi-family housing development in the U.S., with data specific to New York State.
The U.S. housing market remains a critical economic issue, with housing affordability and supply at the forefront of bipartisan policy agendas. Expanding multi-family housing—such as townhomes, condos, and apartments—offers one of the most effective solutions to both improve affordability, and address the country’s current estimated shortfall of 4.5 million housing units.
To better understand which areas are building the most multi-family housing, researchers calculated the share of new privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in multi-family structures (two or more units) in 2023.
Key Takeaways, With Data for New York State
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Higher-density housing is on the rise
- States: In 42 out of 50 states, the share of new housing units authorized in multi-family structures was larger than the existing share of multi-family structures last year.
- Metros: The same was true in 48 of the 53 large U.S. metros—including the NY metro, where 57.8% of the existing units were multi-family, and 81.4% of the new units were multi-family.
- Nation: Overall, between 2009 and 2023, the share of new housing authorized that were multi-family units rose from 24.3% to 39.1%.
- Existing multi-family housing in New York State: Currently, 52.7% of the existing housing units in New York State are classified as multi-family, compared to 28.6% of the nation’s existing housing stock.
- New multi-family housing in New York State: Last year, 80.2% of new housing authorized in New York State were multi-family units, the largest share of any state.
You can read the full study here, including all sources: https://constructioncoverage.com/research/cities-building-the-most-multi-family-housing.