According to the NAHB’s Eye on Housing Blog, nearly 6.8% of single-family homes started (close to 60k) in 2017 qualified as “tear-down starts.” While this estimated number is down 10.2% from 2016, it is significant because of an ongoing shortage of new entry-level housing, more and more homes that might be considered starter are being knocked down due to the increased value in land. A tear-down start is defined as a home built on a site where a previous structure or evidence of a previous structure was present before the new home was started.
“Between 2016 and 2017, the number of single-family tear-down starts remained relatively constant in the Midwest and South Census regions, nearly doubled in the Northeast, and declined by nearly 75 percent in the West (after increasing by more than 200 percent the year before).”
Click here to read the full report on the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.