Middle-income home buyers are being squeezed out of the market but Gainesville has a better track record so far this year than most metro areas, according to a new report.
The report, compiled by constructioncoverage.com, shows that households earning around $75,000 annually could afford just 21% of listings—less than half the share available to them before the pandemic, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
In the 2025 edition of their U.S. Cities Investing in More Affordable Housing report, researchers at Construction Coverage examine national housing affordability trends, where builders are prioritizing lower-cost homes, and which areas are expanding their supply of attainable housing the fastest.
Key findings:
- Nationally, construction costs are climbing and activity is down, but some metros remain more affordable than others. One way to gauge this is through the average construction value per authorized housing unit—a measure of structure costs that excludes land.
- Based on this metric, the Gainesville metro is middle of the pack, in terms of building more affordable housing. In 2024, the Gainesville metro area authorized a total of 2,339 new housing units, with an average construction value of $238,785 each.
- For context, the average value per newly authorized housing unit was $260,229 nationwide, while the national median sale price was $369,147 in 2024. And as of June 2025, the national median sale price reached nearly $374,000—more than double its 2012 low.
The full report covers over 380 U.S. metro areas and all 50 states, with a detailed breakdown of new housing values, permitting activity, median home prices, and the share of new units built as multi-family in each location.
Follow this link to the full report: https://constructioncoverage.com/research/cities-investing-in-more-affordable-housing
Thanks,
Mike