Although covid has changed our world, the effects of the last 12 months on the construction industry are not something we have predicted. “Looking at the previous 12 months, single-family production has slowed in all regional submarkets, both large and small, due to ongoing building material production bottlenecks, construction labor shortages, and the Federal Reserve’s tightening monetary policy,” said NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter, a home builder and developer from Savannah, Ga.
The biggest surprise in the last 30 months is the geography of where single-family homes are being built. Home building has shifted to lower-density markets. NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz explains, “This shift was first caused by the initial impact of Covid on housing demand, which favored lower-density neighborhoods. The shift continued in recent months due to housing affordability conditions causing prospective renters and buyers to expand their geographic search for housing, aided by hybrid work patterns that allow for a combination of remote and office work.”
The Upper Peninsula is an example of this great migration to lower-density areas. Many new residents to the U.P. are moving from big cities like Milwaukee, Chicago and countless cities all over the United States. Remotely working from home opened many possibilities to stay-at-home employees, for example, building or remodeling a home in the Upper Peninsula.
