October 23, 2003

 

New Housing Numbers Up in North Dakota

The number of new housing units authorized for construction in North Dakota increased 21.5 percent during the past year, from 2,687 units in 2001 to 3,265 in 2002 according to the recent Economic Brief released from the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University in Fargo.

While the numbers continue to rise in North Dakota, due largely to historically low interest rates, the growth is mostly concentrated in larger urban centers throughout the state. In 2002, nearly 60 percent of new construction in 2002 was located in the top four most-populated cities of Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, and Minot. Another 11 percent took place in West Fargo, the eighth-largest city in the state.

"The upward trend in housing construction is very good news for North Dakota," said Richard Rathge, Director fo the State Data Center. "We have had a consistent increase in authorized residential building since 2000 which translates into positive consumer confidence in the strength of our state’s economy," said Rathge.

In 2002, single-family homes comprised only a slight majority of new authorized housing in North Dakota (55 percent). In contrast, for the majority of states nationwide, single-family homes captured more than 70 percent of new authorized housing construction. Nationally, 76 percent of all new housing construction was single-family homes.

While single-family homes comprised a slight majority of new construction statewide in 2002, just the opposite is true in the state’s larger cities, such as Fargo and Grand Forks. Here, new construction of homes in multiple-unit structures comprise the majority: 67 percent in Fargo and 59 percent in Grand Forks.

The value per single-family home authorized for construction in North Dakota averaged $130,475 in 2002, ranking North Dakota 19^th lowest in the nation. Nationally, the value of a new single-family home authorized for construction averaged $142,901. Hawaii reported the highest average value per single-family home at $209,726 and Mississippi the lowest at $106,855.

Florida, Texas and California captured nearly 30 percent of all new housing units authorized for construction in the United States in 2002.

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Source: Richard Rathge, (701) 231-8621, richard.rathge@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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