Share of New Homes with Decks Edges Lower

The share of new homes with decks edged down from 17.6% in 2023 to a new all-time low of 17.4% in 2024, according to NAHB tabulation of data from the HUD/Census Bureau Survey of Construction (SOC).

Over the longer term, the share of new homes with decks has been declining steadily since reaching a peak of 27.0% in 2007 and 2008. Amidst that decline, the share of new homes with patios has been trending upward, from under 50% to over 60% (despite a minor reversal of the upward trend in 2024). From the re-design of the SOC in 2005 through 2024, the correlation between the percentages of new homes with patios and decks is -0.85, indicating that patios and decks are functioning as substitutes over time—i.e., as patios become more common, they are crowding out decks.

Decks and patios appear to be substitutes across the U.S. On the single-family homes started in 2024, decks tended to be more common where patios were comparatively rare. For example, only 14% of the homes in the New England Census Division included patios, while a high of 69% included decks. Conversely, 82% of new homes included patios in the West South Central, while only 3% included decks. Across all nine divisions, the correlation between the percentages of new homes with decks and patios was -0.77.

Even so, decks remain relatively popular on new homes in some parts of the country. In addition to New England, over 30% of new homes came with decks in the West North Central (46%), Middle Atlantic (34%) and East South Central (31%) divisions. Moreover, in the latest edition of  What Home Buyers Really Want, 79% of recent and prospective home buyers rated a deck as an essential or desirable feature.

Additional detail on the characteristics of new-home decks is available from the Annual Builder Practices Survey (BPS) conducted by Home Innovation Research Labs.

Nationally, the 2025 BPS report (based on homes built in 2024) shows that the average size of a deck on a new single-family home is 278 square feet. Across Census Divisions, the average ranges from a low of 163 square feet in the West South Central to a high of 422 square feet in the Mountain division.

Beyond size, there continue to be strong geographic differences in builders’ choice of deck materials. On a square foot basis, treated wood is the most popular choice in the New England, South Atlantic, East South Central, and Mountain divisions. In the Middle Atlantic, East North Central, and West North Central, composite material predominates. In the Pacific Division, builders use concrete more than any other material, while in the West South Central there is a roughly even split between treated wood and concrete.

Of course, decks can be—and often are—added after the home itself is built. In the fourth-quarter 2024 survey for the NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index, decks ranked seventh among 22 listed remodeling projects, cited as a common job by 23% of the professional remodelers who responded to the survey.