Townhomes Back in Demand?

Posted on November 23, 2015

More home buyers are being lured back to townhomes: Single-family attached starts are up 30 percent compared to a year ago, according to a recent analysis from the National Association of Home Builders of Census data. Single-family attached starts totaled 26,000 nationwide for the third quarter – that marks the fastest pace of construction since the fourth quarter of 2007.

Over the last four quarters, townhouse starts have totaled 84,000, which is a 20 percent increase over the prior four quarters. The market share of new townhouses now stands at nearly 12 percent of all single-family starts.

Townhome construction peaked during the first quarter of 2008, when townhomes made up 14.6 percent of total single-family construction, according to NAHB.

“Despite the drop in market share during the Great Recession, the share for townhouse construction is expected to increase in coming years – with occasional ups and downs,” according to NAHB’s Eye on Housing blog.

The chart below from October’s REALTORS® Confidence Index report shows where real estate professionals are most upbeat about the townhome market: