Commercial and multifamily construction starts in the country's top 20 metro areas are up 12% over 2020 figures, according to new research from Dodge Data & Analytics, with New York emerging as the top market for starts through the first half of this year.

Nationally, commercial and multifamily construction starts were 10% higher on a year-to-date basis through the first six months of the year, clocking in at $108.5 billion, and in the second largest group of metro areas, starts improved 11% YTD. Only three metro areas in the top 10 (Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Austin) and three in the next group (Phoenix, Houston, and Chicago), lost ground.

New York commercial and multifamily starts totaled $12.6 billion, an 8% increase over the first half of last year, followed by Dallas and Washington, D.C. Starts in the top 10 metro areas accounted for 40% of all activity in the US, the same share as in the first half of last year.