REBNY: Construction levels in NYC hit new records

Construction activity across New York City is rising, a new report suggests. 

On Monday, the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) released the Quarterly Construction Pipeline Report. REBNY found that in the fourth quarter of 2021, developers submitted 665 new building filings, 22.24% more than last year. The report shows that in 2021, the total number of new building job filings reached 1,914, which means that the construction activity is back to its pre-pandemic levels. 

The number of construction projects is growing, and so are their sizes. According to the REBNY findings, in the last three months of 2021, the proposed construction square footage increased by 290% quarter over quarter and 180% year over year. The combined square footage of all projects filed in 2021 reached almost 54 million square feet and saw a 26.64% increase from 2020.

“This significant quarterly increase in large-scale construction is creating good jobs and much-needed housing at a critical moment in the City’s path to full economic recovery,” said REBNY President James Whelan in the statement released with the report. “But we can’t take our eye off the ball – and we still have a long way to go toward meeting our city’s long-term needs. City and State leaders must stay focused on advancing a strong recovery and working with the private sector to continue making progress on new construction activity, job creation and housing production over the months and years to come.”

According to REBNY, in 2021, developers proposed 42,207 residential units, which is the highest total since 2014. However, New York City’s population is growing faster than the number of new housing units. Another REBNY report found that the city needs to build 560,000 additional housing units to keep up with the population growth. 

Overall, the rising construction activity is stopping home prices from skyrocketing. But the city needs to build more residential units to manage its affordability crisis.

Resources:

“City sees record high construction numbers to close out 2021,” by Eddie Small (Crain’s New York, 2022)

“Quarterly New Building Construction Pipeline Report: Q4 2021,” (REBNY, 2022)

“New REBNY Report Shows Increase in Citywide Construction Activity as Momentum Builds Toward Economic Recovery,” (REBNY, 2022)

“Hitting new heights: REBNY report shows that NYC construction plans rose last year,” by Emily Davenport (AMNY, 2022)