When job growth outpaces new construction, renters pay for the mismatch Construction of new houses and apartments hasn?t kept pace with job growth in major cities, according to a new Apartment List report, which compared employment stats and housing permits to find which cities are falling behind the most. A strong contributor to both the nation?s housing shortage and dearth of affordable housing, the gap is widespread. The report discovered that only 10 of the nation?s 50 largest metros has managed to create enough new housing to keep up with job growth.
A prime example of a city falling behind is San Francisco. It was already falling short directly before and after the Great Recession, generating three jobs for every one new housing unit between 2005 and 2010. But since then, the mismatch has only gotten worse: the rate more than doubled to 6.8 jobs per new housing unit between 2010 and 2015.
Apartment List

These kind of gaps have led to rising rental costs as well as extended commutes, as workers forced out of increasingly expensive downtowns seek the next nearest home or apartment they can afford. Construction of new units nationally hit a low point after the Great Recession, with the number of permits issued hitting a record low in May of 2009. While the industry has recovered, it still isn?t keeping pace with economic growth. The construction labor shortage?the number of companies building homes dropped by half between 2007 and 2012?has...