Construction-related issues begin to take hold as COVID-19 tears through the nation. Construction delays from the stay at home orders (affecting permits) and global supply-chain constraints led to the lowest 1Q20 deliveries in nearly a decade in New York City and a steep decline in nationwide multifamily starts.

Below are key takeaways from the following reports:

Multifamily Industry Reports Construction Delays Due to COVID-19 – Multifamily Executive – Link

Multifamily and Single-Family Starts Take a Dive in March – RealPage – Link

New York Deliveries Hit a Ten-Year Low – RealPage – Link

Download the PDF version of this report here:

Multifamily Industry Reports Construction Delays Due to COVID-19

Multifamily Executive

• More than half (55%) of the NMHC Construction Survey respondents reported experiencing construction delays
  • 76% related to permitting
  • 59% in delayed starts
  • 62% due to local/state moratoriums
  • 41% reporting labor constraints
  • 24% reporting a lack of materials
• 73% of respondents implementing new strategies, including sourcing from different locations, staggering work shifts and using technology to reduce in-person interactions

Multifamily and Single-Family Starts Take a Dive in March

RealPage

• Multifamily and single-family housing starts took a steep dive in March, as the COVID-19 pandemic deflated the U.S. economy
  • Multifamily starts fell to 347,000 units in March, a decline of 32% from February and down 3.9% Y/Y
• Multifamily permits continued to tick upwards, likely due to permits filed earlier in the month (pre-COVID)
  • Some areas didn’t issue Stay-at-Home orders until late March. Based on March data, all of last month’s top 10 multifamily permitting metros remained the same (in order):
    • New York
    • Houston
    • Dallas
    • Austin
    • Seattle
    • Los Angeles
    • Washington
    • Phoenix
    • Minneapolis
    • Chicago

New York Deliveries Hit Ten-Year Low

RealPage

• 1Q20 deliveries lowest in nearly a decade, with just 1,216 units completed
  • Follows decreasing Q/Q completion volumes since 3Q18
• Deliveries anticipated at even more restrained levels, as Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered the shutdown of all non-essential construction activity in March
  • Only allowed construction necessary for health and safety of New Yorkers