Construction Time on Multifamily Buildings, from Authorization to Completion, Expands Again in 2019 US Census Bureau Survey

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 Survey of Construction (SOC), the ongoing shortage of skilled labor and ever expanding regulatory challenges, some of which are in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus has pushed the average length of time to complete the construction of a multifamily from obtaining local authorization to completion to an average of 17.3 months. Of course, the average time to build varies with the number of units in the building project. However, no matter how many units in the project, all numbers are up from the 2018 SOC. The 2019 SOC data also shows a significant regional variation in the average construction duration of multifamily buildings. The Northeast had the longest time from authorization to completion, 20.3 months, followed by the West, 17 months, and the South – 15.3 months. The shortest permit-to-completion period happened in the Midwest with 12.9 months.