The average construction time of a single-family home is roughly seven and one-half months, per the U.S. Census Bureau's 2017 Survey of Construction.
Homes built for sale typically took the least amount of time to build at 6.9 months, while people who built their own homes had the longest average construction time at 12.3 months. In addition, homeowners who hired a contractor to build their home on their purchased land fell in the middle, with about nine months to completion, reports Green Building Advisor.
Construction times varied substantially by region. In New England and the Mid-Atlantic, construction times were 10.4 months and 10.3 months respectively. In the South Atlantic region, the time was only 6.4 months. On the West coast, construction averaged 8.5 months. It took builders a minimum of two weeks to begin work after permits were issued, but the delay could be much longer. In the Mountain region, builders were relatively speedy and needed only 17 days to start work. In New England, the wait was an average of 36 days, while on the West coast it was 39 days.