15 Cities With the Biggest Increase in Home Construction

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on Construction Coverage.

The U.S. housing market, which cooled off in 2023 after a pandemic boom, is showing signs of a revival.

The median home sale price was up 5.3% year-over-year in March 2024, and homes are selling more quickly — the share of homes sold in under two weeks is up 1.3 percentage points during the same period.

This uptick in activity suggests a potential return to growth, incentivizing builders to seek permits for new construction, which could help alleviate the inventory shortage that has plagued the country for years.

Some locations, however, are investing more in new residential construction than others compared to the same time last year.

Here are the U.S. metros with the biggest increase in home construction. The analysis was conducted by Construction Coverage using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detailed information, see the methodology section at the end.

1. Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 106.9%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $443,476,263
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 69.6%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 1,417

2. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 80.9%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $303,380,625
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 115.9%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 1,759

3. Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 80.0%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $450,008,467
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 51.1%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 1,255

4. Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 75.8%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $663,535,194
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 70.1%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 2,690

5. Memphis, TN-MS-AR

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 66.3%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $86,637,612
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 90.7%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 450

6. Tucson, AZ

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 49.5%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $136,757,676
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 25.8%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 281

7. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 44.4%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $373,111,832
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 54.1%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 1,595

8. Birmingham, AL

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 42.5%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $78,418,073
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 51.6%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 303

9. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 37.7%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $249,354,201
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 3.6%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 124

10. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 37.5%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $188,362,960
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 21.8%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 417

11. Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 36.2%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $694,316,357
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 27.1%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 2,559

12. Pittsburgh, PA

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 34.7%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $74,262,685
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 36.7%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 299

13. Richmond, VA

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 33.6%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $118,472,463
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 27.8%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 661

14. Tulsa, OK

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 33.4%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $64,809,937
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 22.7%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 186

15. Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

• Percentage change in value of new residential housing units: 31.4%
• Total change in value of new residential housing units: $63,263,976
• Percentage change in new residential housing units: 52.5%
• Total change in new residential housing units: 307

Methodology

The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Building Permits Survey.

To find the locations with the biggest increase in home construction, researchers at Construction Coverage calculated the percentage change in value of new residential housing units authorized by permit-issuing places from Q4 2022 to Q4 2023.

In the event of a tie, the location with the bigger increase in total value of new residential housing units was ranked higher.

The researchers also calculated the percentage change and total change in newly authorized residential housing units. For relevance, only metropolitan areas with complete data were included and those with less than 10 permits issued in Q4 2022 were omitted from the analysis.