The most recent banking troubles, rising inflation, and prohibitive mortgage rates are some of the strong issues impacting the housing market. While the number of completed units has increased every year since 2012, data shows that the housing market is losing momentum, with permits and housing starts dropping nationwide. However, Georgia did not follow this trend, as the number of permits issued in this state increased by 14% in 2022 compared to 2021.  

To get a deeper understanding of how housing construction and construction employment trends evolved over the past decade in Georgia and not only, Point2 analyzed historical data on permits, completed and started units, along with employment, incomes, and business data. The report is accompanied by an extensive resource page highlighting the Y-o-Y changes in residential construction over the last decade in all the states and 384 U.S. metros.

Findings for Georgia show that:

• The state ranks fifth for the highest number of permits issued in 2022 (76,637 permits), right after Texas, Florida and California who top the podium;

• In 2022, six states across the U.S. recorded Y-o-Y increases in the number of permits issued above 10% and Georgia is one of them with an increase of 14%;

• With 47,202 permits, the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta metro is in the top 5 largest metros with the highest number of permits in 2022. It’s also one of the large metros with the biggest Y-o-Y increases in number of permits: 19% in 2022;

• Brunswick metro is one of the small metros with the biggest Y-o-Y increases in number of permits (2021-2022): 117%. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Albany and Dalton recorded some of the lowest number of permits: 204 and 442, respectively;

• Other small metros where permitting activity increased during 2022, include Columbus (45.1%), Athens-Clarke (28.25%), and Macon-Bibb (10.83%);

• Moreover, small metros like Gainesville, Savannah, and medium metros like Augusta-Richmond also saw drops in the number of permits compared to 2021: -8.09%, -3.16% and -2.66%;

• The number of construction employees in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta metro represents over 4.71% of all active employees. Their number kept growing for the past decade, going from 83,459 in 2012 to more than 129,000 in 2022. Construction-related businesses also grew by 23.89% in 2022 compared to 10 years ago.

Check out the full set of data and accompanying visuals here: https://www.point2homes.com/news/us-real-estate-news/decade-trends-residential-construction.html