U.S. Cities Building the Most Homes

Building Permits Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in December were at a annual rate of 1,495,000. This is 1.9 percent above the November rate of 1,467,000 and is 6.1 percent above the December 2022 rate of 1,409,000. Single‐family authorizations in December were at a rate of 994,000; this is 1.7 percent above the revised November figure of 977,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 449,000 in December. An estimated 1,469,800 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2023. This is 11.7 percent below the 2022 figure of 1,665,100.

Rising real estate values and increasing rents have stretched budgets for homebuyers and renters. The median home sales price in the U.S. jumped by over $150,000 from the first quarter of 2020 to present amid low interest rates and a stronger-than-expected economy. Rent prices, on the other hand, remained suppressed for much of 2020 with COVID-related renter protections and rental assistance programs in place, but accelerated in 2021 and into 2022.

Since the beginning of 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve has raised interest rates in an effort to combat inflation throughout the economy. Between rising mortgage rates and the rapid run-up in home values, the residential real estate market has cooled down. As of Q2 2023, the median home sale price declined 13.2%—down from just over $479,000 in Q4 2022. But while a leveling-out in demand may have helped to slow down price growth, these measures cannot solve another fundamental challenge in the U.S. housing market: a major shortage of housing supply.

Available single-family homes for sale sit at 1.3 million units, a mere 8.1% above the all-time low in February 2022. And with millennials now comprising the largest generational segment of the homebuying market, a lack of affordable entry-level homes has driven competition for housing and kept larger numbers of young adults renting, contributing to the elevated home and rent prices alike.

The lack of housing supply has been exacerbated by significant underinvestment in new housing since the Great Recession. New housing authorizations tend to fall temporarily during economic downturns, but the collapse of the housing market in the mid-2000s and ensuing recession sent authorizations to historic lows. The number of new residential units authorized has recovered slowly over the last decade, but as of June 2023, new authorizations declined 26% after peaking in December 2021. According to the National Association of Home Builders, persistently high inflation pushing up construction costs combined with elevated mortgage interest rates produced 12 straight monthly declines in builder confidence during recent year.

Despite a clear need for new housing supply, the construction industry struggled to keep up during the pandemic. COVID-related disruptions produced worker shortages and hindered supply chains, making it harder and more expensive to obtain building materials. As a result, more single-family units saw monthslong delays in the time it takes to start and complete construction when compared to years past.

The effects of these disruptions continue to linger in the residential housing industry. The share of authorized single-family units that took two months or longer to start construction after initial authorization increased from 29% in 2021 to 32% in 2022. These delays were even more prevalent when considering the time from construction start to completion, where 61% of authorizations took over two months to complete this phase compared to only 40% in 2021.

Although supply is a challenge across the U.S., some locations are moving faster than others in authorizing new construction. Fast-growing states in the Mountain West, like Utah, Idaho, and Colorado, along with Sun Belt destinations like Texas and Florida, lead the U.S. in the rate of new housing development. At the local level, major metros in these fast-growing states are also among those leading in new home construction.

To determine the metros building the most homes, researchers at Construction Coverage analyzed the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Zillow. The researchers ranked metro areas according to the number of new housing units authorized per 1,000 existing homes in recent year.

Here are the U.S. metropolitan areas building the most homes.

Large Metros Building the Most Homes

15. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes: 18.5
Total new housing units authorized: 23,476
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +19.0%
Median home price: $584,714

14. Richmond, VA

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes: 18.6
Total new housing units authorized: 10,414
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +27.2%
Median home price: $352,581

13. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes: 19.6
Total new housing units authorized: 48,107
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +48.7%
Median home price: $374,047

12. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes: 20.1
Total new housing units authorized: 29,969
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +47.3%
Median home price: $375,313

11. Salt Lake City, UT

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes: 21.7
Total new housing units authorized: 10,102
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): -8.4%
Median home price: $533,606

10. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes: 23.3
Total new housing units authorized: 47,267
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): -2.0%
Median home price: $446,110

9. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX

Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +45.8%
Median home price: $294,967

8. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes: 23.9
Total new housing units authorized: 27,215
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +2.5%
Median home price: $369,590

7. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes: 25.7
Total new housing units authorized (2022): 28,683
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +17.1%
Median home price: $388,191

6. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes: 25.8
Total new housing units authorized (2022): 77,894
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +28.1%
Median home price: $376,026

5. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes (2022): 26.8
Total new housing units authorized: 75,728
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +7.4%
Median home price: $306,423

4. Jacksonville, FL

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes (2022): 32.6
Total new housing units authorized: 23,169
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +34.3%
Median home price: $355,024

3. Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes: 32.8
Total new housing units authorized (2022): 28,192
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +3.8%
Median home price: $436,866

2. Raleigh-Cary, NC

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes (2022): 36.2
Total new housing units authorized: 21,568
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +27.2%
Median home price: $433,469

1. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX

New housing units authorized per 1k existing homes (2022): 42.5
Total new housing units authorized: 42,364
Percentage change in housing units authorized (2020-2022): +0.2%
Median home price: $487,537

New Construction Home Starts Are Still Slow Compared to the Demand