North Dakota housing units authorized for construction in 2010 totaled 3,833, an increase of 20 percent from 2009. Nationally, the number of units authorized increased by 4 percent in 2010.

This month’s “Economic Brief,” a monthly publication from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University, focuses on the number and value of new housing units authorized for construction by building permits in North Dakota. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Residential Construction Branch released the data.

From 2000 to 2004, housing units authorized for construction in North Dakota grew an average of 18 percent per year. From 2004 to 2005, there was little change. Beginning in 2006, the housing market began to slow down with successive declines in authorized homes (approximately 11 percent per year through 2008).

In 2009, authorized construction grew 13 percent followed by a 20 percent increase in 2010. The increase in newly authorized housing units in North Dakota from 2009 to 2010 was the result of 380 more single-family homes and 259 more five-plus unit structures.

The total value associated with newly authorized housing units in North Dakota grew rapidly during the first part of the decade, reaching $462 million in 2006. Total value steadily decreased to $353 million in 2009, but then jumped to $481 million in 2010.

In 2010, single-family homes were approximately half (54 percent) of the new authorized housing in North Dakota and averaged $173,424 in value. Nationally, values averaged $194,773 in 2010.

Western North Dakota saw the largest increase in housing units authorized for construction in the state. Together, authorized housing in planning regions 1 (northwestern) and 8 (southwestern) grew 147 percent from 2009 to 2010 (an increase of 507 units for a total of 853 authorized units in 2010). The value for those units increased 135 percent to $113.2 million in 2010.

“The housing growth in western North Dakota is directly linked to the boom in energy development in that region,” says Richard Rathge, State Data Center director.

NDSU Agriculture Communication