By Ashok Chaluvadi on August 29, 2022 • According to the annual data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), stucco was the most common principal siding material on new single-family homes started in 2021 (28 percent),  followed by vinyl siding (24 percent), fiber cement siding (such as Hardiplank or Hardiboard (23 percent) and, brick or brick veneer (19 percent). Far smaller shares of single-family homes started last year had wood or wood products (4 percent) and stone, rock or other stone materials (1 percent) as the principal exterior wall material. The Census Bureau’s SOC data is available by the nine census divisions and there are substantial differences in the use of siding across divisions. Although stucco was the most common siding material in the country as a whole, its popularity is concentrated in a few parts of the country. In 2021, vinyl siding was the most widely used primary exterior material in four northern census divisions. Vinyl siding was used on 74 percent of the new homes started in the Middle Atlantic, 66 percent in New England, 63 percent in the East North Central and 45 percent in the West North Central. Stucco was the most commonly used primary exterior wall material in the Pacific, Mountain and South Atlantic divisions in 2021: 63 percent, 53 percent and 40 percent, respectively, of the new single-family homes started in those areas used it. Brick or brick veneer was the most common exterior siding material in East and West South Central divisions. In the West South Central, 62 percent of the new single-family homes started in 2021 used brick or brick veneer as the primary exterior material, compared to 42 percent in the East South Central. Related ‹ Student Housing Investment Edges Down in the Second Quarter of 2022Tags: Building Materials, construction, economics, eye on the economy, home building, housing economics, single-family