Townhouse Construction Growth Continued in Q1 of 2021

The most recent Census data of Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, with analysis provided by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), reveals that townhouse construction continued at a robust pace in Q1 of 2021. This follows the best quarter of townhouse construction in 2.5 years at the end of 2020. According to the NAHB, as housing demand has shifted to more suburban and exurban areas and housing affordability headwinds persist, medium-density construction lagged for much of last year. However, demand for medium density neighborhoods is expected to accelerate as the economy reopens more fully. During Q1 of 2021, single-family attached starts totaled 31,000, which was 35% higher than the Q1 of 2020. Over the last four quarters, townhouse construction starts totaled 122,000 units, almost 10% higher than the prior four quarter total (111,000). Using a one-year moving average, the market share of new townhouses increased to 11.9% of all single-family starts. This represents a rebound after recent declines. 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.