Analyzing newly released data from the American Community Survey, Jed Kolko finds reason to believe that construction of singly-family housing is outpacing demand.
"Newly released data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) show that the vacancy rate for single-family homes actually ticked up a bit in 2013," reports Jed Kolko. "That’s a big surprise. It suggests even today’s low level of single-family construction might still be too much, too soon."
To make that argument, Kolko breaks down the data on changes in households and housing between 2012 and 2013, finding low rates of household formation, and "[low] household formation means less demand for new construction," writes Kolko.
Kolko then goes on to break down the vacancy data, finding that multi-family vacancies are down while single-family vacancies are up—leading Kolko to conclude that the building industry is focused on the wrong housing type.
FULL STORY: Are We Building Too Many Single-Family Homes?
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly
The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.
LA's Top Parks, Ranked
TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.