Garage Construction Continues to Outpace Apartment Construction

New data reveal the U.S. housing industry's preference for garages for cars over apartments for people.

1 minute read

October 27, 2016, 8:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Three-Car Garage

Robynrg / Shutterstock

Patrick Clark takes a look at data released recently by the National Association of Home Builders and notes that "it might be surprising to hear that Americans are building plenty of housing—for their cars."

"Twenty-four percent of new homes completed in 2015 included a garage with room for three or more cars," reports Clark. "That’s the highest share since the Census Bureau started keeping track of large garages in 1992." 

Clark adds another fun fact that adds some historic perspective on the garage building trends of the United States: "In every year since the Census has kept track, U.S. homebuilders have built more three-car garages than one-bedroom apartments."

Wednesday, October 26, 2016 in Bloomberg

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