Total housing starts and housing permits made decent gains in August compared to the month prior, but the focus was on multifamily units.
Total retail sales continued to steadily increase from the beginning of the pandemic through Q2 2021 as sales increased from $1.3 trillion in Q2 2020 to $1.6 trillion in Q2 2021, for a year-over-year growth rate of 28.2%.
Housing affordability, the desire to live in less dense areas, and in larger homes with the opportunity to work from home, and the demand from millennials as they start to form households and raise families are important factors that play into the decision of where to live and buy a home.