Residential Construction in Southeast Michigan, 2023

• The seven-county Southeast Michigan region recorded 9,333 new residential units in 2023. This is a 9% decrease over the revised 2022 total of 10,205 units. Single-family home permits decreased 13%; attached condominium construction fell 20%; and apartment construction fell just 3% from 2022.
• Median reported construction value* for new single-family homes in 2023 was $334,535. This is a 4% decrease from 2022. Total reported construction for all residential units permitted was $2.3 billion.

• High mortgage rates significantly deterred potential new construction home buyers from moving. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.81% in 2023. By comparison, the rate in 2021 was just 2.96%.
• On the builder's side, construction material prices (lumber, steel mill, ready-mix concrete, gypsum) have stabilized but remain historically high since the pandemic. Overall prices for construction materials increased 37% from 2019-2023 ¹ . The shortage of skilled labor also remains an issue, further complicating the ability to construct an attractive, affordable new home, while still turning a profit.

• Southeast Michigan has averaged just over 10,000 new residential units per year since 2014. Single-family home construction averaged 5,145 permits per year, condominium construction just under 900 units, and apartments almost 4,000 units.
• In this most recent 10-year period, total permits issued increased steadily from 2014 to the high of 12,159 units in 2017. Since then, permits have dipped 2,000 units on average with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting all aspects of the residential construction industry.

• The years 1974-1983 represent a period of significant growth in single-family homes, averaging almost 15,000 permitted homes per year until the impacts of the 1980 recession hit.
• Recovery showed up in 1984 and permits issued averaged almost 20,000 units per year with significant upticks in both single-family and apartment construction through 1993.
• The 1994-2003 timeframe was another period of growth in Southeast Michigan with the single-family home construction boom reaching an annual average of almost 17,000 permits and total permits over 22,000.
• Permit averages in the 2004-2013 time period were low due to the 2008 housing bubble crisis. From 2004 to 2006, the average was almost 18,000 units per year. From 2007 to 2013, it was only 4,600.

• Oakland County communities issued the largest number of new residential construction permits in 2023 with 2,589. Single-family home construction comprised nearly 58% of the permits issued.
• Washtenaw County ranked 2nd among counties with 2,329 new units permitted. New apartment units accounted for almost 73% of permits issued in the county.
• Wayne County communities permitted 1,763 total units, with apartment construction amounting to over 62% of permits issued.

• Macomb County totaled 1,216 residential units permitted, with single-family homes constituting almost 60% of new construction.
• Livingston County had a total of 920 new residential units permitted in 2023, with a large share in apartment construction (59% of the total).
• St. Clair County communities issued 270 residential building permits, with almost 67% of the total is single-family homes.
• Monroe County authorized 246 new residential units, with over 75% in single-family construction and the highest percentage in condominium units by county at over 19%.

• In total new residential units permitted, the City of Detroit topped the region in 2023 with 1,126 units, followed by Pittsfield Township with 652, and Ann Arbor with 477 units.
• Lyon Township held the top spot in the region for communities in single-family homes permitted with 225. Macomb County ranked 2nd with 210, followed by Milford Township with 147 new single-family home permits.
• The top 10 communities in total permits authorized carried 46% of the region's total units. The top 10 in new single-family home permits accounted for 30% of the total.

SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, collects the number of monthly residential building permits issued by each of the 232 communities in the Southeast Michigan region for new single-family homes, attached condominiums, and apartment buildings/units, as well as demolitions for the same. Community and county building departments, as well as building authorities, have provided data to SEMCOG for more than 50 years. Building permit data from the year 2010 to present are available in the  Community Profiles  section of our website (www.semcog.org).

Data are available at the regional, county, and community level. Historical building permits (back to 1969) can be acquired by contacting our Information Center (infocenter@semcog.org).

Residential building permit data provide an effective measure of community growth — both demographic and economic. It is assumed that when a permit is authorized, the home/condominium/apartment will be built and occupied. The terms issued, authorized, or permitted all refer to the local government or authority allowing legal construction of a dwelling unit. Although apartments are permitted by building and not by individual unit, unit counts are used.

Not all communities provide construction value or addresses for residential permits. Residential Building Permit data is not static. Permit numbers can/will change when updated data is acquired.

*Median construction values are calculated based on values reported on the building permit issued by community/county building departments. This is not the value the home would be sold for on market.

 ¹  Calculated from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Producer Price Index by Commodity: Inputs to Industries: Net Inputs to Single Family Residential Construction, Goods Less Foods and Energy.

Report cover photo of Kensington Ridge development in Milford Township, Oakland County.