Single-family and multifamily home building showed gains in second home counties—defined as those having a high proportion of housing units that are not their owners’ primary residence—in the third quarter, according to the NAHB’s latest Home Building Geography Index. The growth rate for single-family home building in second markets on a year-over-year basis was 36.1% in the third quarter and the year-over-year growth rate for multifamily building was 24.7%, according to the NAHB’s Eye on Housing blog.
Over the last year, such second home markets have increased market shares, due to increases in hybrid work arrangements, early retirements and wealth gains in housing and stocks. The single-family second home market share grew from 9.8% to 10.8% from the third quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2021.
On the multifamily front, third quarter data showed a notable growth rate of 24.7% in these counties, compared to a decline of 1.2% for the previous year. Multifamily home building was stronger than the previous year in non-second home counties at 14.9%, but the rebound was stronger in second home communities.
Despite the gain for apartment construction in second home markets, there was little change in the market share, with apartment construction in non-second homes markets accounting for 95.3% of construction in the third quarter, compared to 95.6% in the second.
