Accessory Dwelling Units Are on the Rise

Accessory dwelling units, such as a guest house, basement apartment, or in-law suite, have experienced rapid growth since the 1950s, especially in the past five years. Of the 1.4 million single-family properties with ADUs, half can be found in California, Florida, Texas, and Georgia, according to research from Freddie Mac. Areas such as Portland, Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Miami have seen double-digit growth in ADUs the past five years. The affordable housing crisis, along with the current state of the economy, may intensify the demand for ADUs even more, says Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

Guest home, granny flats and mother-in-law suites are more commonly used terms for accessory dwelling units in the U.S., which have grown in demand exponentially since the 1950s.

According to research from Freddie Mac, there are 1.4 million single-family properties with ADUs. They were identified using a national-level dataset of 600 million Multiple Listing Service transactions dating back to the late 1990s, the report said.

California, Florida, Texas and Georgia account for half of the 1.4 million ADUs in the U.S., according to Freddie Mac.

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