Town House Construction Reaches a 2.5 Year High in Q4 2020

Analysis of the most recent U.S. Census Bureau’s data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reveals that townhouse construction expanded to a 2.5 year high during Q4 of 2020. The result, of housing demand shifting to more suburban and exurban areas and while housing affordability continues to face ongoing challenges. However, the strong Q4 numbers led to a roughly flat overall 2020 in total volume. During Q4 of 2020, single-family attached starts totaled 34,000, which was 36% higher than Q4 of 2019 (25,000). Over the last four quarters, townhouse construction starts totaled 113,000 units, 3% higher than the prior four quarter total (110,000). Using a one-year moving average, the market share of new townhouses increased to 11.4% of all single-family starts. The peak market share of the last two decades for townhouse construction was set during the first quarter of 2008, when the percentage reached 14.6% of total single-family construction.