Home Builders Predict Townhouses Continue Long-Term Growth of Market Share

From Eye on Housing, the blog on which the National Association of Home Builders discusses economics and housing policy: "One of the impacts of the Great Recession was an interruption of the long-term growth trend in the construction of townhouses (attached single-family units) as a share of all single-family homes built. From 1990 to 2007, the share of townhouses constructed grew from 6% to 16% of single-family housing starts, as reported by the Census Bureau.  As of the first quarter of 2011, townhouse starts neared the record low (set in the first quarter of 2009), standing at a 9,000 non-seasonally adjusted starts rate. This is a decline of 87% from the peak rate of construction set in the second quarter of 2005.  We expect the share of townhouses constructed to continue its long-term growth trend, as homebuyers of the future seek higher density, inner suburb locations and somewhat smaller homes."  Full post here.