Developers aren’t building much in the suburbs, despite a demand for suburban housing, writes Jake Blumgart and Ryan W. Briggs for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

It reverses a trend when the Philadelphia region had the most suburban housing under construction.

Now most of the homebuilding is taking place in the city, making suburban housing extremely competitive.

The Piazza Alta apartment complex in Northern Liberties contains about twice as many housing units as were planned across all of Delaware County last year.

Philadelphia allowed as much new housing in 2023 as Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks counties combined.

One couple was looking in the suburbs, ready to spend between $500,000 and $800,000, but they found themselves constantly outbid.

“I don’t know if the city market is just different, but this feels more hectic and frustrating,” said Patel, wife of the husband and wife couple.

Last year, there was only a slight increase in city home prices. In Delaware County, those increases were double-digit.

The suburban housing crunch is caused by a land shortage, green space campaigns, and an anti-development mindset from incumbent homeowners.

That’s keeping families in Philadelphia longer, where new homes are easier to buy.

Read more about the lack of new suburban housing in The Philadelphia Inquirer.