The demand for Multi-family housing construction is projected to be the strongest growth in history. According to the Census Bureau, last year was the 10th consecutive year of robust and prosperous growth in the multi-family housing industry. By the Housing Vacancy Survey’s estimates, on average the growth of renters accelerated by 900,000 annually in 2010-14.
The recently released State of the Nation’s Housing 2015 report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, explains their findings.
Part of the extraordinary growth in rental demand has come from households in certain age, income, and family groups that are traditionally more likely to own. While younger adults are most likely to rent their housing, the number and share of older renters have risen significantly over the last decade with the changing age distribution of the population. Although making up just 25 percent of renters in 2014, households aged 55 and over contributed fully 42 percent of renter household growth over the preceding decade (Figure 30). Within the 55–64 year-old age group, population growth drove more than half of the increase in renters while declines in homeownership were responsible for the remainder. Within the 65-and-over age group, however, population growth alone accounted for all of the growth in renter households.
CONTINUED STRENGTH OF MULTIFAMILY CONSTRUCTION
With rental housing demand still on the rise, construction of multifamily units continued to ramp up last year. From a his- toric low of just under 110,000 in 2009, the number of multifam- ily starts rose steadily to nearly 360,000 units in 2014—more than in any year in the 1990s or 2000s. And in a marked shift, more than 90 percent of multifamily units started last year were intended for the rental market, up from less than 60 percent in the mid-2000s. Indeed, starts of multifamily rentals in 2014 hit their highest level since 1987
Meanwhile, the number of rental units completed last year was well below the number of starts, at just 280,000. With the long lag between starts and completions, the pipeline of new rental housing will continue to fill over the next few years. As a result, the number of new rental units brought to market will continue to rise even if starts level off.
SWET Construction Group is an industry leader in the construction and renovation of multi-family housing, apartments, condominiums and commercial building throughout the Southeastern United States.
You can feel confident SWET Construction Group, our experienced team, advanced knowledge of construction, high quality products, on-site management, turn-key solutions and precise estimation, will deliver the results you’re looking for on budget and on time.