Expanded Suburban\Exurbs Construction Continued Through Q3 2020

A growing trend identified by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) in Q2 of housing being built in lower-density areas, has continued into Q3. As single-family and multifamily construction continued to overperform in lower cost markets – i.e. the suburbs and exurbs. The Q3 HBGI reports that a suburban shift for consumer home buying preferences in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating as telecommuting is providing consumers more flexibility to live further out within large metros or even to relocate to more affordable, smaller metro areas. Since Q1 2020, the market share for single-family construction in urban core areas fell from 18% to 17.2%. The small metro core and suburb single-family market share increased from 37.7% to 38.2%. The pace of multifamily home building in large metro core areas deteriorated over the year posting a -4%percent decline for apartment construction.