Townhome Starts Grow As Buyers Seek Affordable Options

Single-family detached construction may be seeing a bit of a slowdown, but as buyers look for more affordable housing options, townhome construction activity is growing. According to the National Association of Home Builders’ analysis of recent Census Bureau data, townhome construction is up by 9% year-over-year as of Q-2 2025. During Q-2 alone, townhome starts totaled 45,000, and over the last four quarters, townhouse construction starts totaled 179,000. This figure is up 3% compared with the prior four-quarter period. Overall, townhome starts made up 17% of all single-family housing starts in Q-2 2025.

Using a one-year moving average, the market share of newly-built townhouses stood at 18.3% of all single-family starts for the second quarter. With gains over the last year, the four-quarter moving average market share is the highest on record, for data going back to 1985.

Prior to the current cycle, the peak market share of the last two decades for townhouse construction was set during the first quarter of 2008, when the percentage reached 14.6% on a one-year moving average basis. This high point was set after a fairly consistent increase in the share beginning in the early 1990s.