Where Is New Construction Creating Affordable Housing Options? Look to the South and the West
A New Report from Realtor.com found South Carolina, North Carolina and Idaho are the top three states leading the new construction activity and affordability rankings. New Construction Nationally is Helping Add Needed Inventory and Affordable Options.
Today, Realtor.com® launched a brand new report “New Construction Insights,” which found South Carolina, North Carolina and Idaho lead the way when it comes to new home construction. This report creates a ranking for states looking at volume, affordability, and future growth of the new construction inventory and found that the top ten states are located South or West regions with the Carolinas leading the way.
“This will come as no surprise as the South and West have the fastest growing overall levels of inventory,” said Joel Berner, senior Economist, Realtor.com® “For prospective buyers interested in purchasing a newly built home, these ten states have more newly built options that are more affordable, and fastest-growing. In other parts of the country, purchasing a newly built home may be more challenging until new construction activity picks up.”
Top Ten States for New Construction Activity and Affordability
| New Construction as a Share of Total Listings Rank | New Construction Premium per Square Foot Rank | Permits per Capita Rank | Average Rank | |
| South Carolina | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2.67 |
| North Carolina | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3.33 |
| Idaho | 3 | 9 | 1 | 4.33 |
| Arizona | 10 | 5 | 5 | 6.67 |
| Utah | 5 | 13 | 7 | 8.33 |
| Florida | 20 | 3 | 4 | 9.00 |
| Delaware | 2 | 18 | 8 | 9.33 |
| Texas | 6 | 15 | 9 | 10.00 |
| Tennessee | 8 | 16 | 10 | 11.33 |
| Georgia | 9 | 14 | 12 | 11.67 |
*Each state is ranked according to three criteria: the share of listings in each state that are new builds, the price per square foot premium on those new builds versus existing home listings (ranked lowest to highest), and the number of permits for new single-family homes per capita issued in each state. Rankings are then averaged to get a sense of the volume, affordability, and future growth of the new construction inventory.
Across the United States, new home prices are lower than existing homes and down considerably from the peak in July of 2022. Affordability of new homes is largely driven by builders who are building smaller and more affordable homes to meet the demand. For example, homes built in 2024 are 8% smaller or 163 sq ft smaller, which is roughly a 12X12ft room, than homes built in 2022. However, new builds are still bigger than most existing homes
“Nationwide, builders have responded to the gap in existing home affordability by building smaller, lower-priced homes and are a major driver of this year’s leveling-off of listing prices,” said Joel Berner, senior Economist, Realtor.com®. “In the years since the Great Recession, the pace of household formation in the United States has far exceeded the rate of homebuilding, resulting in a supply shortage of over 7 million single-family homes at the end of 2023. There is a clear and present need for newly built homes to meet the demand for housing, and this construction is an important contributor to overall economic activity.”
This report was launched as a part of the Realtor.com’s New Construction Days of Deals event, to learn more visit: https://www.realtor.com/new-construction-days-of-deals and to learn more from our economics team, visit our site https://www.realtor.com/research/
