New reports show that rental units accounted for 96% of multifamily construction starts during the second quarter of 2020, which took additional market share from the condo market.
According to The National Association of Home Builders, quarterly data from the Census Bureau, noted that 76,000 rental multifamily started and with only 3,000 condo starts.
By comparison, apartment starts have been about 90% or higher since late 2014. Apartment starts hit the bottom in Q3 2005, when condo construction was booming. During that time, apartment construction hit 47%.
Rental multifamily starts traditionally have held more market share over condos. From 1980-2002, the average market share for apartments was 80%, according to NAHB.
While more apartments are going up, their square footage is staying down, according to NAHB. The average square footage of rental units during the second quarter of this year was 1,126, well below the pre-Great Recession peak of about 1,300. In early 2015, square footage reached a post-recession peak of 1,247 square feet.
Depressed dwelling sizes may not last long, according to NAHB, particularly in light of the new work from home trend.
Though apartments took more market share from condos, new construction has been reduced by 12% this year due to Covid19, according to RentCafe Blog. “The downtrend is mainly due to the slower pace of construction, as a result of a shortage of available construction crews, funding and permits, along with some temporary bans on construction projects in certain states,” the report said.
However, housing construction overall has been driving up lumber prices according to NAHB. The price of lumber has shot up 110% since mid-April. It is estimates that these recent gains have boosted typical new single-family home prices and apartment prices by approximately $14,000 and $5,000, respectively.
Pricing of multifamily has so far, not been too affected by COVID-19. At least it hasn’t caught up to it yet.
