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Builders are building more, even though overall housing inventories still feel tight. Builders in April constructed about 24% more homes than they did in April over the last couple of decades, the National Association of REALTORS® reports. Housing starts are likely to reach 1.6 million for all of 2021 and jump to 1.7 million in 2022, NAR projects.
Building permits are viewed as a gauge of future housing inventory. They provide an estimate of the number of new housing units that the local government has approved to be constructed soon. A single-family home typically takes about 10 to 12 months to build.
In April, 46% of metro areas issued more single-family building permits than the historical average.
NAR researchers analyzed 262 metro areas’ single-family building permit data. The following areas have issued the most and least single-family building permits over the 12 months from May 2020 to April 2021, according to NAR’s Economists’ Outlook blog.
