The New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA) released its annual report on housing supply from its Office of Planning and Development’s (OPD). The number of housing units permitted by municipalities in 2020 was in line with the number of units permitted in recent years.
New Hampshire added 4,446 units to its housing supply in 2020, slightly less than in 2019 when housing stock increased by 4,483. This drop of 37 units, while small, is the first year since 2013 that the total number of new housing units permitted by towns and cities in the state decreased. Total building activity at the beginning of this decade is less than half of the peak level in the early 2000s.
“This report is a reminder that New Hampshire’s appeal and pro-growth economy requires that we continue working on solutions to provide housing to meet the demand,” said BEA Commissioner Taylor Caswell.
The following graph shows the number of housing units for which permits were issued each year since 2001.
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