Countdown: Top 10 U.S. Cities Building the Most Homes for Buyers – Part 1

Currently, the number of listings for available homes is about half of what it was last year when inventory was already low, according to realtor.com. Increasing housing demand and ever-decreasing inventory continue to lead to bidding wars and rising prices in many states across the country.

In mid-January Fannie Mae’s chief economist Doug Duncan said homebuilders would have to ramp up supply because houses were continuing to fly off the shelves. “The new home sales numbers had a big jump in 2020,” he said, “and there will be more growth in 2021, but they’re [homebuilders] going to have to rebuild that inventory because anything that the builders are building today gets sold.”

Builders are trying to keep pace with housing demand and this year applied for 14 percent more permits than in 2020, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. But what areas of the country will see this surge in construction? In March realtor.com compiled a list of the top 10 U.S. cities that are expected to see the most homebuilder activity this year based on builder permit applications. House flippers, this list may help inform your decision-making about where to plan your projects in order to take strategic advantage of buyer demand.

Here, we countdown the top 10 cities where builders filed the most permits for single-family homes, townhomes, condos, co-ops, apartments, and duplexes, according to one metro area per state (metro areas include the main city and surrounding towns, suburbs, and smaller urban areas).

Flippers, three of the states we serve are on this list.

10. Tampa, Florida

Number of permits: 4,251

Median list price: $305,000

One-year permit increase: 24%

 

9. Charlotte, North Carolina

Number of permits: 4,359

Median list price: $386,450

One-year permit increase: 11%

 

8. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Number of permits: 4,653

Median list price: $329,900

One-year permit increase: 52%

 

7. Seattle, Washington

Number of permits: 5,169

Median list price: $672,386

One-year permit increase: 38%

 

6. Los Angeles, California

Number of permits: 5,306

Median list price: $1,184,500

One-year permit increase: 7%