Garden State homebuilding came in below U.S. average in 2019, report finds

Folks looking for a new home in New Jersey may find themselves struggling with a lack of product, according to a new report from the website Construction Coverage — which found the Garden State finished below the national average when it came to building new housing in 2019.

According to the report, New Jersey built 41.6 new housing units per 10,000 residents in 2019, compared with a national average of 41.9 units per 10,000 residents.

Nearly 68% of the state’s 37,082 units, however, were multifamily residences, well above the national average of 37.7%.

The move toward multifamily — as opposed to single-family homes — did not help lower prices, the report noted. In New Jersey, the state’s median home value of $334,490 topped the national average of $240,224. And, at the start of 2020, the median sale price for new homes nationwide was a record $348,200.

Construction Coverage analyzed building permit data from the U.S. Census Bureau and home price data from Zillow to compile its report.

To read the entire report, click here.