Housing construction hits a 15year high

Led by multi-family units, 2019 saw highest new home total in 15 years

More housing was built in Montgomery County last year than at any time in the last 15 years.

That’s according to the annual analysis published by the Montgomery County Planning Commission.

All total, more than 2,900 new housing units were constructed in 2019, representing a $356 million addition to the county tax base.

And multi-family units continue to be the major driver. Last year is the second consecutive year in which nearly 1,500 new multi-family housing units were constructed.

“The densest housing types, attached and multifamily, accounted for 78 percent of all units built in the county in 2019,” according to the report.

Also on the rise is the construction of age-restricted housing, 66 percent of which was single-family detached.

In fact, for the first time in three years, the market saw an increase in singlefamily detached homes being built, according to the planning commission analysis.

Top 10

“Nearly half of all new units were constructed in five municipalities — the vast majority of which were multifamily,” according to the report.

Those five municipalities are: Upper Moreland (522); Upper Merion (310); East Norriton (261); Lower Merion (244) and Lansdale (221).

“Growth in new units continued to be heaviest in the eastern end of the county due to a greater emphasis on infill construction and redevelopment,” according to the report.

“There are numerous centers of employment, entertainment, and retail within these areas that have attracted new residents seeking diverse housing options,” according to the housing report.

Rounding out the top 10 municipalities with the most housing construction in 2019 were mostly in the western portion of the county. They were: Upper Providence (144); Limerick (108); Upper Hanover (89); New Hanover (87) and Whitemarsh (82).

“Construction of new housing has begun to pick up in the western municipalities after a slowdown in growth since the Great Recession as Millennials start to purchase homes and look towards communities further out in the county for affordability,” the planners wrote.

On the low end, only nine Montgomery County municipalities saw no new homes built in 2019 and all but two were boroughs. With the exception of Perkiomen and West Pottsgrove townships, boroughs that saw no new housing at all were Pennsburg, Red Hill, Schwenksville, Royersford, Telford and Rockledge.

The Older the Better

Growth in the western portion of the county is particularly true in the age-restricted housing category.

This type of housing is seeing an increase due to the aging of the population — younger people are having fewer children so as the Baby Boomer generation ages, their percentage of total population grows.

It is considered desirable because this population is more likely to be retired, and thus not add to rush hour traffic woes. And, because they have few-to-no children, age-restricted developments produce ratables for school districts without any counterbalancing costs for educating children.

According to a county database, Montgomery County is currently home to 17,662 age-restricted housing units.

In this category, the ongoing construction of Spring Valley Farm in Lower Pottsgrove, where 52 of the 178 planned units were constructed last year, puts the western portion of the county at the top of the list of the new units.

Further, most of the units in the rest of the county “were additions to existing developments such as the White Springs at Providence and the Regency at Upper Dublin,” according to the report.

Spring Valley represented the only construction of new age-restricted units, most of them singlefamily detached.

Skippack saw 24 age-restricted units constructed in 2019 and Upper Providence saw 37.

However, a plan that would result in 279 new age-restricted units in Upper Pottsgrove Township is in the pipeline that would significantly add to those numbers.

The first phase of that project, 143 age-restricted homes on 49 acres off Kummerer Road, received preliminary/final site plan approval from the township last year.

That same developer, Artisan Development Group, is currently pursing the construction of 212-unit age-restricted homes on 66 acres of farmland off Stony Run Road in the Chester County township of East Vincent.

EVAN BRANDT — MEDIANEWS GROUP More than 65% of the age-restricted housing built in Montgomery County in 2019 were single-family detached homes, like this model at Spring Valley Farms in Lower Pottsgrove.