Since the peak of the U.S. housing bubble in the early 2000s, the proportion of housing units authorized for single-family homes has decreased significantly—from 78.0% in 2005 to 58.9% in 2015. Although there was a modest rebound in single-family construction post-2015 that gained momentum during the pandemic, that surge has since subsided. In 2023, only 61.8% of new construction was allocated to single-family units. This ongoing underinvestment has led to an estimated shortfall of approximately 6.5 million single-family homes—a primary contributor to elevated housing prices.

But while adequate supply of single-family homes is a current challenge, single-family units remain the norm in most places. Researchers calculated the percentage of housing units that are single-family, then ranked cities accordingly.

Here are the key findings from the report for New York City:

• In NYC, 42.1% of owner-occupied units are single-family, defined as “single unit, detached” or “single unit, attached.”
• By comparison, only 4.8% of NYC renters live in single-family homes.
• Overall, 17.0% of NYC housing units are single-family—the smallest share among all large U.S. cities.

You can read the original report here.