On August 21, 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau released information about housing growth in the Nation. The Bureau provided data covering the period from July 1, 2004 to July 1, 2005. The data was segmented by changes in the actual number of housing units, as well as the percentage change in housing units for a particular county.



As a nation, there were approximately 124.5 million housing units as of July 1, 2005, which was a 1.5% increase from July 1, 2004.

Listed below are the top 15 counties that added the largest number of housing units for the period observed. San Diego County ranked #12 with 13,964 housing units added from 2004 to 2005, which represents a 1.3% increase from the previous year.

1. Maricopa County, Arizona (52,203 units added)

2. Clark County, Nevada (35,114 units added)

3. Harris County, Texas (33,698 units added)

4. Riverside County, California (29,689 units added)

5. Miami-Dade County, Florida (21,375 units added)

6. Los Angeles County, California (19,950 units added)

7.Lee County, Florida (19,894 units added)

8. San Bernardino County, California (17,032 units added)

9. Tarrant County, Texas (16,281 units added)

10. Fulton County, Georgia (15,374 units added)

11. Orange County, Florida (14,003 units added)

12. San Diego County, California (13,964 units added)

13. Palm Beach County, Florida (13,777 units added)

14. Hillsborough County, Florida (13,086 units added)

15. Bexar County, Texas (12,333 units added)

The Bureau also provided data with regard to the largest percentage change in housing units from July 1, 2004 through July 1, 2005 for U.S. counties. The top fifteen counties were:

1. Flagler County, Florida (14.8% increase)

2. Sumter County, Florida (12.8% increase)

3. Pinel County, Arizona (10.2% increase)

4. Osceola County, Florida (9.5% increase)

5. Franklin County, Washington (9.4% increase)

6. Culpeper County, Virginia (9.3% increase)

7. Washington County, Utah (8.6% increase)

8. Kendall County, Illinois (8.5% increase)

9. St. Lucie County, Florida (8.2% increase)

10. Rockwall County, Texas (7.7% increase)

11. Loudoun County, Virginia (7.4% increase)

12. Paulding County, Georgia (7.3% increase)

13. Walton County, Florida (7.3% increase)

14. Yuba County, California (7.1% increase)

15. Fannin County, Georgia (7.1% increase)

The Census Bureau consolidated data about counties to determine which states had the most rapid housing growth in terms of percent change from 2004 to 2005. The top fifteen states were:

1. Nevada (4.4% growth rate)

2. Arizona (3.5% growth rate)

3. Florida (3.1% growth rate)

4. Idaho (2.9% growth rate)

5. Utah (2.9% growth rate)

6. Georgia (2.7% growth rate)

7. North Carolina (2.1% growth rate)

8. Colorado (2.1% growth rate)

9. Texas (2.0% growth rate)

10. Delaware (2.0% growth rate)

11. South Carolina (2.0% growth rate)

12. Virginia (1.9% growth rate)

13. Washington (1.7% growth rate)

14. Minnesota (1.7% growth rate)

15. Hawaii (1.7% growth rate)

California ranked #19 with a 1.4% growth rate. The housing growth rate from the nation as a whole was 1.5%. For more information, go to the Census Bureau's web site.