February 2021 Residential Construction Report – Census Bureau

This year permits are being sought at a rate 10% lower than this time last year. Single family units are taking longer to get started compared with this time last year, however developers are seeing only a 1% increase in time to start. Although less units are being started this month than last month, single family homes are being started at approximately the same pace as last year. However, there are 15% more single family homes under construction this year compared to last year suggesting that it is taking longer to construct them than last year, this is likely due to delays from the ongoing pandemic as well as shortages and price increases in the supply chain. We continue to see more completions this month than last month, we also see a large rise in the completions this year from this time last year in multi-family homes which may be occurring from delayed projects returning to work and finishing completion.