Total townhome starts rose to 105,000 the last four quarters ending in the first quarter of 2018, up 7% from the previous four quarters. Townhouses accounted for 21,000 starts during the first quarter of 2018, a slight decline from 22,000 townhome starts in the first quarter of 2017.
As a one-year moving average, the market share of new townhomes stands at 12.3% of all single-family home starts. The peak market share of townhome starts as a percentage of single-family housing starts was set in the first quarter of 2008 at 14.6% of total single-family construction.
NAHB Eye on Housing’s Robert Dietz predicts a rise in the share of new townhome starts as townhouses “are a useful bridge from rentership to homeownership.”
The share for townhouse construction is expected to increase in coming years – with occasional ups and downs. The long-run prospects for townhouse construction are positive given large numbers of homebuyers looking for medium density residential neighborhoods, such as urban villages that offer walkable environments and other amenities.
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