Montco Reaches Highest Number Of Housing Units Built In 10 Years

NORRISTOWN, PA — Montgomery County is in the building homes business, and business is booming. In 2016, more homes were built in the county than have been built in any other year in the last ten.

A total of 2,219 housing units were built last year, marking a 16 percent increase from 2011, county officials said. It also marks an increase of more than 300 from 2015, in which 1,915 new units were built.

The numbers were released in a pair of new reports issued by the Montgomery County Planning Commission at a recent Board of Commissioners Meeting.

“These substantial increases indicate a strong housing market and growing economy in Montgomery County,” Val Arkoosh, Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, said in a statement. “Businesses want to invest and grow here and with the booming apartment market millennials are moving here.”

Salford saw the greatest percentage increase in homes built since 2011, at 25.5 percent. They were followed by New Hanover at 17 percent, Upper Hanover at 16 percent, Conshohocken at 12 percent, and Upper Providence at 11.1 percent.

Upper Merion, meanwhile, led all municipalities in total housing units built at 377. Lower Merion followed with 353, then Norristown with 157, Upper Providence with 144, and Lower Providence with 134.

Roughly half of the 2,219 new units are apartments, officials said. The bulk of the rest are split between single-family detached homes and single-family attached homes.

Most of these homes were built in "designated growth areas," which are usually adjacent to existing development and easily accessible to public infrastructure, the report states. This accounts for 62 percent of all the new housing.

Image courtesy Luxor