Macroeconomic Determinants of Multifamily Housing Starts: A Descriptive Analysis

The multifamily component of residential construction has received relatively little attention in the existing literature on macro-economic housing markets. In those studies where single and multifamily starts have been treated separately [ Kawaller (1976) , Arcelus and Meltzer (1973) , Brady (1973) , Kalchbrenner (1972) Smith (1969) , the greater share of attention and background discussion has been directed toward the singlefamily sector. Such treatment probably is due to the fact that multifamily starts have traditionally accounted for the smaller fraction of total private starts. Since the Census Bureau began recording the starts breakdown in 1959, however, this fraction has not fallen much below a fifth in any quarter, and it has been as high as 48 percent. Moreover, with a growing acceptance of the condominium and cooperative housing concepts, expanding Federal rental assistance initiatives, and changing life style preferences, it would appear that increased attention given to the multifamily sector, may significantly enhance our understanding of housing markets in general.