Home Building Geography Index (HBGI)
The Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) is a quarterly measurement of building conditions across the country and uses county-level information about single-family and multifamily permits to gauge housing construction growth in various submarkets. The fourth quarter of 2022 rollout of the HBGI focuses on the population density-based delineation of home building that has been the mainstay of the HBGI.
The latest findings illustrate that labor shortages, supply shortages and higher mortgage rates continue to hamper the industry, particularly the single-family market: Single-family home building experienced negative growth rates in all submarkets. For multifamily construction, the growth rate in Large Metro core counties increased over the quarter to 3.2%, while Large Metro outlying counties had the highest growth rate (24.5%) for the seventh consecutive quarter.
Key findings
- Large metro core counties had the lowest year-over-year growth rate for single-family construction, posting a 25.6% decline.
- All large and small metro areas also had double-digit negative growth rates, while rural markets (micro counties and non-metro counties) recorded negative growth rates in the single digits.
- During the past four years, rural markets have exhibited overall strength. The rural single-family home building market share has increased from 9.4% at the end of 2019 to 12% in the first quarter of 2023.