Q4 2023 Best Quarter for Townhouse Construction in 17 Years

Single-family construction may have been weak during 2023, but by contrast, townhouse construction during the fourth quarter last year was going strong, according to analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the National Association of Home Builders. Townhouses made up almost 20% of total housing starts in Q4 2023, and single-family attached starts were 27% higher than in Q4 2022.

Using a one-year moving average, the market share of newly-built townhouses stood at 16.7% of all single-family starts for the fourth quarter. With the recent gains, the four-quarter moving average market share is the highest on record, for data going back to 1985.

Prior to the current cycle, the peak market share of the last two decades for townhouse construction was set during the first quarter of 2008, when the percentage reached 14.6%, on a one-year moving average basis. This high point was set after a fairly consistent increase in the share beginning in the early 1990s.

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