In 2024, vinyl siding was the most used principal exterior wall material for homes started. It holds just over a quarter share of homes, slightly surpassing stucco for the first time since 2018. For homes started in 2024, 26% had vinyl siding (including vinyl-covered aluminium) as their principal exterior wall material, according to the latest annual release of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC). Vinyl was followed closely by stucco at 25%, and by fiber cement siding (such as Hardiplank or Hardiboard) at 23%. Each of these materials holds about a quarter of the market, with another 16% held by brick or brick veneer. Far smaller shares of single-family homes started last year had wood or wood products (6%), stone, rock or other stone materials (1%), other (1%), or cement blocks (.2%) as the principal exterior wall material.  While vinyl has historically held a much larger share, at highs of almost 40% in 2001, the share fell rapidly between 2010 to 2015 by over 10 percentage points. However, since 2015, this share has remained fairly steady at around 26%. Meanwhile, stucco rose rapidly from 17% in 2010 until recently peaking at 28% in 2021.    However, the strongest trend has been the growing popularity in fiber cement siding. The share of exterior siding material for fiber cement siding has increased by 5.5 percentage points in the last ten years and by more than 15 percentage points in the past 20 years. Also notable is the decline of brick siding, from almost a quarter of homes in 2012, to just 16% in 2024. Although vinyl siding is most popular in the entire U.S., there are substantial differences in the use of siding when you look across geographies. In 2024, vinyl siding was the most used in the Midwest and Northeast regions. More specifically, vinyl siding was used on 73% of the new homes started in New England, 69% in the East North Central, 68% in the Middle Atlantic, and 49% in the West North Central.  Meanwhile, stucco was the most used primary exterior wall material in the Pacific, Mountain, and South Atlantic divisions in 2024 at 64%, 48% and 33%, respectively. Brick or brick veneer was the most common exterior siding material in the East South Central (39%) and West South Central (48%) divisions.  The West South Central division also had a substantially higher share of wood principal exterior homes at 27%.   Discover more from Eye On Housing Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.