Apartment community construction completion is taking longer. According to the National Association of Home Builders and data from the Census Bureau, it took 19.9 months to finish a project after obtaining authorization in 2023, up 0.1 months. In 2022, there was an increase of 2.3 months. Meanwhile, the time between authorization to start remained at 2.8 months in 2023.
The larger the unit count and community size the more likely it was for it to take longer to complete. Buildings with 20 or more units needed 22 months to complete after obtaining authorization. Communities with 10 to 19 units took 21.5 months, buildings with two to four units needed 18.7 months, and buildings with five to nine units required 16.9 months.
For its various reasons, the pandemic has caused hiccups in the construction process, requiring more time for completions. Nearly all building sizes required additional time to complete in 2023 compared to 2019, with some needing as much as more than three months.
The Northeast 20 or more unit segment required the most amount of time needed to complete buildings at more than 25 months, while the South's two to four unit group needed the least amount of time at more than 10 months.