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NAR has identified areas with the highest deficit of homes using the quarterly Housing Shortage Tracker index, which calculates how many new building permits are issued for every new job created in selected major metropolitan areas across the country. A high index indicates that more jobs are being created than homes in a specific area. Historically, one single-family permit is issued for every two new jobs.

By the end of December 2024, nearly 93% of the metropolitan areas tracked in the index had narrowed the supply-demand gap in housing by issuing more single-family building permits.

Among the areas with the greatest housing shortages:

  • The Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY, area saw the largest improvement, reducing its index by 47.6% and issuing one permit per nine new jobs. This was a notable change from December 2023, when the area issued one permit per 17 new jobs.
  • In the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA area, the housing shortage index lowered by 43.0%, an improvement from issuing one permit per 29 jobs in 2023 to one permit per 16 jobs in 2024.
  • Other notable improvements were seen in Syracuse, NY (-42.8%), Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT (-42.7%), and Champaign-Urbana, IL (-32.9%).

Although the housing supply has improved by the end of the year overall, 121 of the major metropolitan areas were still experiencing a housing shortage, with an index greater than the national historical average of two:

  • At the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, the urban Honolulu, HI area topped the list as the metropolitan area with the most severe housing shortage for single-family homes, with one permit issued for every 18 new jobs, a 31.9% improvement from 26 one year ago.
  • Following Honolulu were New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (16) and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL (14).
  • Similarly to the previous quarter, three of the top 10 areas with the highest shortage indices were in Connecticut: New Haven(14), Hartford-W Hartford-E Hartford (11), and Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk (9).
  • Anchorage, AK, was the only new area to enter the top 10 list in the fourth quarter, with one permit issued per 10 new jobs.

Overall, all top 10 areas with the greatest housing shortages showed improvement, except for Anchorage, AK, which rose from one permit per eight jobs in December 2023 to one permit per 10 jobs in December 2024.

Throughout 2024, the U.S. housing market struggled with affordability, primarily due to low housing inventory. Areas where affordability was constrained by factors such as a limited workforce, insufficient building permits, or zoning restrictions remained unaffordable for many potential buyers. However, increased housing supply, combined with job growth and lower mortgage rates, is expected to improve affordability in the new year. In 2025, NAR expects the median single-family home price to rise by 2%-3%, which is a more moderate increase compared to the 6% rise observed between December 2023 and December 2024.

Head to NAR’s Housing Shortage Tracker page or use the visualization below to see how many permits were issued for every new job in your area: