Global housing construction expected to rise +3.3% a year

Worldwide construction of new housing is expected to increase +3.3% a year to reach 60.9 million units in 2017, according to research company Freedonia.

It said increased rural-to-urban migration, especially in developing countries, will spur construction of new housing units in urban areas.

And even though expansion of the world population is projected to decelerate, the number of households in the world is still expected to grow +1.5% annually, adding to the demand for new housing.

In 2012, the world housing stock was nearly 2.0 billion units. According to Freedonia, this stock will grow roughly in line with new household formations, causing the housing stock to increase +1.8% annually to 2.2 billion units in 2017.

The Asia Pacific region accounted for slightly over half of the world housing stock in 2012 and is forecast to maintain that share through to 2017.

Together, the Asia Pacific and Africa/Middle East regions are expected to account for over 80% of the world’s new housing units constructed in 2017.

North America is forecast to experience annual housing construction gains of +8.9% while Western Europe can expect gains of +5.9% a year, according to Freedonia.