Custom Home Building Made Up Higher Share of Single-Family Construction in 2019

The number of custom single-family homes built-for-sale increased in 2019 compared to the previous year, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Out of all single-family homes built in 2019, custom homes made up 20.2%, up from 19.5% in 2018. Custom homes are defined as contractor-built or owner-built houses built one at a time for either owner occupancy on owner’s land, or a builder acting as the general contractor, says NAHB. Read more to see which regions have the highest and lowest share of custom homes.

When analyzed by the 9 census divisions, the annual data show that the highest custom home share in 2019 was 41.4 percent in the New England Division. In the South Atlantic Division, on the other hand, the share was only 13.2 percent.

In the East South-Central Division, 39.9 percent of new homes started were contractor-built or owner-built houses, followed by East North-Central Division at 39.5 percent, and the Middle Atlantic Division at 35.5 percent. In the West North Central Division 24.8 percent of new homes started where custom homes. Less than 20 percent of the custom-built homes were started in West South-Central Division (18.5 percent), Pacific Division (16.5 percent) and Mountain Division (13.8 percent).

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