When it comes to the nation’s top 10 largest metro areas, Chicago had the smallest share of new housing units for 2019. That’s according to a recently released study by Construction Coverage.
The pace of housing construction in Chicago last year was less than half that of the rest of the nation. In Chicago, 19 housing units were built for every 10,000 people. When looking nationwide, the number was nearly 42 units per 10,000 people.
Los Angeles came in slightly above Chicago with 22.5 new units per 10,000 people. According to the study, the Chicago metro was also the only one in the top 10 that saw a dip in its population between 2013 and 2018.
Last year the Chicago area saw around 18,000 new housing units. More than half of them were multi-family units, including rental apartments, condos and townhouses. Only Philadelphia built fewer housing units than Chicago, but that city is smaller than Chicago.