D.C.’s housing growth is not keeping up with job growth, report says

New construction has not kept pace with the growth of jobs in many of the nation’s largest metro areas. Of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas, there were only 10 that produced enough new housing to keep pace with job growth between 2005 and 2015, according to Apartment List. In their latest report, Apartment List reported that one new housing unit should come with one or two new jobs.

From 2005 to 2015, the D.C. Metro area added 0.9 new jobs for each new housing unit permitted. In the post-recession period from 2010 to 2015, the area added 1.4 jobs per permit. In D.C. proper, there were 2.8 new jobs for each new housing unit from 2005 to 2015. Apartment List further reported that rents in Washington, D.C., increased by 45 percent from 2005 to 2015.

In comparison, San Francisco added three jobs for every new residential unit permitted from 2005 to 2010 and added 6.8 jobs per unit from 2010 to 2015. Out of all of the metro areas studied, Apartment List reported that San Jose had the biggest undersupply of new construction along with the fastest rent growth at 57 percent.

The most oversupplied metro areas included Detroit; Cleveland, Ohio; and Providence, Rhode Island, in order from the most oversupplied to the least.

To come up with these findings, Apartment List analyzed U.S. Census data on building permits and Bureau of Labor Statistics data on employment.

Want to see how Washington, D.C.’s growth in jobs versus housing has correlated with other cities across the nation? Check out Apartment List’s interactive graph below, seen best on desktop:

Can’t see the graph? Head over to Apartment List’s report to give it a look.

• Housing Shortage: Where is the Undersupply of New Construction Worst? [Apartment List]

• https://www.curbed.com/2017/7/26/16033876/rent-housing-shortage-jobs

[Curbed.com]