15 Cities Investing in More Affordable Housing

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

After a tumultuous rise in home prices during the COVID-19 pandemic, today’s housing market has finally started showing signs of cooling off.

From February 2020 to April 2022, the median home sale price increased from $304,000 to a peak of $410,000. That means in just over two years, the median home sale price increased nearly 35%.

For perspective, it took nearly five years prior to that point to see a similar percentage gain in median home sale prices.

This rapid rise is reversing, just much more slowly: From April 2022 to December 2022, the median home sale price stayed relatively flat, declining from $410,000 to $405,000.

While a deceleration in home sale price growth is certainly relieving to those looking to buy, home prices are still roughly 33% more expensive than they were pre-pandemic.

Further, despite a federal government initiative aimed at increasing the number of homes available, there’s been a reduction in residential construction spending over the last few months that’s poised to make the problem of limited housing inventory even worse.

While less money is being funneled into building new homes nationwide, some states and cities are able to do more with less, constructing more affordable housing units compared with others.

The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau and Zillow. Researchers at Construction Coverage ranked locations by average construction value per new housing unit authorized in 2022. In the event of a tie, the location with the higher total new housing units authorized in 2022 was ranked higher.

Here are the U.S. metropolitan areas investing in more affordable housing.

15. Salt Lake City, UT

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $207,274
• Total new housing units authorized: 9,913
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $2,054,710,000
• Median home price: $577,249

14. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $207,184
• Total new housing units authorized: 29,960
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $6,207,244,000
• Median home price: $388,223

13. Raleigh-Cary, NC

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $205,196
• Total new housing units authorized: 21,551
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $4,422,185,000
• Median home price: $438,777

12. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $202,431
• Total new housing units authorized: 47,157
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $9,546,045,000
• Median home price: $381,245

11. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $202,164
• Total new housing units authorized: 42,942
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $8,681,344,000
• Median home price: $537,243

10. Jacksonville, FL

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $200,758
• Total new housing units authorized: 23,131
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $4,643,733,000
• Median home price: $374,931

9. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $198,074
• Total new housing units authorized: 75,786
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $15,011,252,000
• Median home price: $312,952

8. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $196,077
• Total new housing units authorized: 6,273
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $1,229,993,000
• Median home price: $335,668

7. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $190,659
• Total new housing units authorized: 6,596
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $1,257,590,000
• Median home price: $378,790

6. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $185,244
• Total new housing units authorized: 32,296
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $5,982,630,000
• Median home price: $551,220

5. Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $179,090
• Total new housing units authorized: 1,520
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $272,217,000
• Median home price: $323,983

4. San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $174,560
• Total new housing units authorized: 24,006
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $4,190,491,000
• Median home price: $339,009

3. Richmond, VA

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $173,424
• Total new housing units authorized: 10,407
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $1,804,826,000
• Median home price: $346,118

2. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $172,772
• Total new housing units authorized: 13,902
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $2,401,880,000
• Median home price: $343,096

1. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA

• Average construction value per new housing unit authorized: $168,124
• Total new housing units authorized: 58,991
• Total construction value of new housing units authorized: $9,917,783,000
• Median home price: $617,849

Methodology

The data used in this analysis is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Building Permits Survey and Zillow’s Housing Data (ZHVI), a measure of typical home value.

Researchers at Construction Coverage ranked locations by average construction value per new housing unit authorized in 2022. Housing unit valuation is an estimate of the structure value and not a reflection of the land value.

In the event of a tie, the location with the higher total new housing units authorized in 2022 was ranked higher. To improve relevance, only metropolitan areas with at least 100,000 residents were included.