Porches on New Homes as Popular as Ever

2023-11-07T09:16:44-06:00

Porches have been a popular home feature, consistently ranking in the top 10 in the NAHB surveys of recent and prospective home buyers published in What Home Buyers Really Want.  And porches remain as popular as ever specifically on new homes, according to NAHB tabulation of the latest Survey of Construction (SOC, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau with partial funding from HUD) data.  Of the roughly one million single-family homes started in 2022, the SOC data show that 66.4% came with porches.  This is the highest the share has been since the re-design of the SOC in 2005. Recent year-to-year fluctuations in the share of new homes with porches have not been very large, however.  Since climbing to 63% for the first time in the 2009 trough of the Great Recession, the share hovered in a relatively narrow band between 63% and 66% before finally breaking above 66% for the first time in 2022. Traditionally, porches on new homes have been most common in the four states that make up the East South Central Census division.  That was true again in 2022, although the gap has narrowed.  In 2022, 80% of new homes in the East South Central had porches, but the share was over 70% in four of the other eight divisions: the Pacific (78%), New England (73%), Mountain (72%), and South Atlantic (71%) divisions.  Compared to the previous year’s results, the share of new homes with porches jumped upward by 7 to 10 percentage points in the Pacific, New England, and South Atlantic Divisions, but actually declined by 7 points in the East South Central. The SOC provides information about the number of new single-family homes with porches, but not many details beyond that.  Additional information, however, is available from the Builder Practices Survey (BPS), conducted annually by Home Innovation Research Labs.  Among other things, the 2023 BPS report (based on homes built in 2022) shows that porches continue to be most common on the front of new single-family homes, rather than on the side or rear.  Whether  front, side or rear, the size of the porches tends to average a little over 100 square feet—unless it is a screened-in porch, in which case the average is well over 200 square feet. To build their new home porches, builders continue to use concrete more than any other material on a square-foot basis—except in New England, where treated wood, composite, natural stone, and PVC or other plastics are each used more than concrete. Readers interested in how well builder practices are tracking recent trends in consumer preferences. should watch for the 2024 edition of What Home Buyers Really Want, which will be released at the next International Builders Show Related ‹ Type of Parking Facility of New Single-Family Houses Completed: 2022 DataTags: BPS, builder practices survey, concrete, economics, home building, housing, porches, SOC, survey of construction

Porches on New Homes as Popular as Ever2023-11-07T09:16:44-06:00

Patios Are Increasingly Popular on New Homes

2023-10-05T08:14:40-05:00

The share of homes with patios edged up to another record high last year.  Of the roughly one million single-family homes started in 2022, 63.3%  percent came with patios—up from 63.0% in 2021, and the seventh consecutive year of setting a new record.  The source for these numbers is NAHB tabulation of data from the Survey of Construction (conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau with partial finding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development). Historically, fewer than half of new homes came with patios during the 2008-2011 period of extreme weakness in housing markets  After that, the share of new homes with patios jumped to 52.% in 2012 and has been climbing ever since.  The percentage has now increased in twelve of the past thirteen years; the lone exception being 2015, when it was unchanged. While patios on new homes have generally become more popular, the places where they tend to be most and least popular have not changed much.  At the low end, only 18% percent of new single-family homes built in the Middle Atlantic and 21% in New England came with patios in 2022.  At the high end, the incidence of patios on new homes was over 70%  percent in the West South Central and South Atlantic divisions, and only a little under 70% percent in the Mountain states.  All these geographic tendencies are similar to the ones reported in last year’s post on patios. For extra detail on the nature of the patios being built, we can supplement the SOC with data from the Annual Builder Practices Survey (BPS) conducted by Home Innovation Research Labs. For the U.S. as a whole, the 2023 BPS report (based on homes built in 2022) shows that the average size of patios (which in the BPS includes pool decks) on new single-family homes is about 280 square feet, but with considerable geographic variation.   The average is over 350 square feet in New England and the South Atlantic; but as low as 166 square feet in the West North Central, 188 square feet in the West South Central, and 209 square feet in the Mountain Division. Measured per square foot, builders use poured concrete more than any other building material for patios.  In most parts of the country, there is not even a close second.  In the New England and Mid Atlantic divisions, however, builders use natural stone and brick pavers, respectively, almost as much as poured concrete. Related ‹ Multifamily Completed in 2022: Primarily Built-For-Rent and High-Density BuildingsTags: BPS, builder practices survey, concrete, economics, home building, housing, patios, SOC, survey of construction

Patios Are Increasingly Popular on New Homes2023-10-05T08:14:40-05:00

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