Tuesday, November 29, 2016 / by Karen McGail
More New-Home Buyers Consider Custom
The number of custom-home building starts set a post-recession high in the third quarter, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The bureau defines custom-home building as homes built on an owner’s land, with either the owner or a builder acting as the general contractor.
In the third quarter, there were 49,000 total custom starts, compared to 47,000 in the third quarter of 2015. Over the last four quarters, there were 169,000 total custom single-family home starts, a nearly 8 percent increase over the prior four quarters, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ analysis of the data.
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The custom-home building market share now makes up 22 percent of single-family starts. That is still down from a peak of 31.5 percent set during the second quarter of 2009.
“The market share for custom-home building will likely experience ups and downs in the quarters ahead as the overall single-family construction market expands,” according to NAHB’s Eye on Housing blog. “Recent declines in market share are due to an acceleration in overall single-family construction.”
The map below shows the levels of custom-home building in each region for 2015.
Source: “Post-Recession High Set for Custom Home Building,” National Association of Home Builders Eye on Housing blog (Nov. 21, 2016)