Construction of single-family homes gained in just the exurbs and rural areas during the second quarter, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
Of the seven regions of the (Home Building Geography Index), only exurbs and rural areas showed growth in single-family home building for the second quarter, though that expansion was slight. Exurbs are the outlying counties of large metro areas and rural areas are non-metro/micro counties. The exurbs’ share of single-family home building increased from 6% in the period right after the Great Recession to 9% as of the second quarter of 2019. In contrast, rural areas’ share of single-family home building decreased from 4% at the end of the Great Recession to 3% as of the end of the second quarter of 2019.