The 10 US Cities That Built The Most Homes In The Last Decade

Despite the intense activity on the homebuilding scene in the past decade, there is still not enough housing to respond to the growing demand. With a 7.6% increase in the US population from 2010 to 2020, there is ongoing debate about a housing deficit that’s now estimated at over 3.8 million units.

But some markets do significantly better than others in boosting housing supply. In fact, according to our research into building permits issued during the past decade in the 100 biggest US cities, 9 of the 10 most active markets for new homes hail from the South and the West.  New York City, however, managed to build more than its hyped southern counterparts and snatched the first position in the ranking, mainly propelled by its multifamily sector.

Bolstered by the multifamily sector, New York City emerges as most active residential market in the US

The housing market in NYC has never been easy to navigate, and with its population growing by 6.55% over the last decade, there’s enough competition to make home hunting even more challenging. But the multifamily sector is making an effort to respond. In fact, even while single family construction levels are relatively low, multifamily development is booming. No less than 238K permits were issued for apartment units over the last 10 years, representing approx. 8% of NYC’s total multifamily stock.

Meanwhile, as the city is trying to squeeze in more housing units, apartment space is decreasing. According to data from Yardi Matrix the average size of an apartment built between 2013 to 2022 was 712 square feet, a minimalist powder bath less than the ones built during the previous ten years, which ranged around 728 square feet.

Half of the top 10 cities for residential construction are from Texas

State-wise, Texas is the king of residential construction in the U.S. Supported by its robust economic sector, the Lone Star State added more housing units than any other state in the past decade. That’s mainly in response to the massive influx of new residents that pushed local population numbers to over 30 million in 2022.

Among Texas’s powerhouses, Houston has the most active residential market. Nationally, it was second only to New York City in terms of numbers of building permits issued over the last ten years. Roughly 55K permits were issued for single family homes and 89K for multifamily units between 2013 and 2022.

Austin is close behind for overall residential construction with nearly 136K building permits, while Fort Worth, Dallas and San Antonio also make it into the top 10 of the U.S.’s most active housing markets.

LA and Seattle build more homes than other West Coast cities

Over on the West Coast, Los Angeles and Seattle emerge as the hotbeds of residential development. They rank among the top 10 U.S. cities for new housing units, with 138K permits issued in LA and 91K in Seattle.

In recent years, Los Angeles has become a popular destination for newcomers and had almost 4M residents in 2022, which represents a population growth of over 2.5% in the last decade. As a result, the demand for housing increased.

In addition, Seattle’s residential landscape is also blooming, due to the thriving local economy, as can be seen from the 6% increase in jobs in the 12 months leading up to July 2022. This upward trend is reflected in a median sale price that has jumped by 7.6% in the past year, reaching $845,000 in October 2022. And with only 1.9 months of housing supply available, Seattle is a seller’s market where homes fly off the shelves and often above the list price.

PHX and Denver shake up the western housing landscape with more than 75K building permits each

In response to the growing population, which surged by 17% in Denver and 9% in Phoenix from 2010 to 2020, these two cities shared similar paths on the development front as well.

More than 81K building permits have been issued in Phoenix from 2013 to 2022 – 49K for apartment units and 32K for single family units.

Denver, which continues to attract skilled talent with a robust science and technology employment scene, has amplified construction efforts particularly in the multifamily sector. Roughly 77K building permits were issued for residential construction over the last decade, with 59K for apartment units.

The housing boom impacts the self storage market, encouraging development

Housing development is one of the main drivers of the self storage industry. As people settle into new homes, they often need extra space, either when moving or to store belongings that don’t fit into their new living spaces.

Nationally, interest in self storage has increased in recent times, with NYC in the lead. More than 22K monthly searches related to New York City self storage are performed online. Development wise, NYC is heavily undersupplied, but local developers are stepping up.

A third of NYC’s self storage stock was built between 2013 and 2022, with 9.6M square feet of storage space hitting the market during this timeframe. Brooklyn led self storage deliveries as roughly 2.9M square feet of storage space was built in the last 10 years, followed by Queens with over 2M square feet.

The past decade has witnessed a significant increase in residential construction activity across various cities in the United States. While New York City took the lead with its robust multifamily sector, cities in Texas, such as Houston, Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas and San Antonio, stood out as powerhouses in residential development. The West Coast also made its mark, with Los Angeles and Seattle experiencing notable growth in housing construction. These cities responded to the rising demand for housing driven by population growth, economic development and job opportunities. As the housing boom continues, it not only addresses the need for homes but also fuels the self-storage industry, highlighting the interconnectedness of these sectors.

Top 100 Cities for US Residential Construction in the Last Decade

Methodology

This analysis was done by StorageCafe, an online platform that provides storage unit listings across the nation. Our analysis focused on the residential construction data of the 100 most populous cities in the country.

However, we excluded these cities from our study because they lacked data: Charlotte, NC, Memphis, TN, Anaheim, CA, San Juan, PR, Lexington, KY, Stockton, CA, Santa Ana, CA, Fort Wayne, IN, Laredo, TX, Arlington, VA, Enterprise, NV, Spring Valley, NV, Huntsville, AL, Fayetteville, NC, Fontana, CA, Honolulu, HI, and Yonkers, NY.

Our analysis covered the data from January 2013 to December 2022.

We used building permits for residential units (single family and multifamily units) as a measure of construction activity. We obtained the unit count data from U.S. Census building permit records.

Data on self storage came from StorageCafe’s sister division Yardi Matrix, a business development and asset management tool for brokers, sponsors, banks and equity sources underwriting investments in the multifamily, office, industrial and self storage sectors.

Fair use and distribution

This study serves as a resource for the general public on issues of common interest and should not be regarded as investment advice. The data is true to the best of our knowledge but may change if amendments to it are made. We agree to the distribution of this content but we do require a mention in return for attribution purposes.