New Survey of Construction reveals top siding materials
The Census Bureau’s most recent Survey of Construction (SOC) offers keen insights for building materials pros from coast to coast.
For instance, the data shows that stucco still reigns supreme as the siding material of choice. Of the new single-family homes built in 2023, 26.8 percent featured stucco siding. "Stucco was followed by vinyl siding at 25.6 percent, fiber cement siding (like Hardiplank or Hardiboard) at 21.7 percent, then by brick or brick veneer at 18.5 percent," according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Just over 5 percent of single-family homes built in 2023 featured wood or wood products as the principal exterior material used, and that number was even smaller (1.2 percent) for stone, rock or other stone materials.
Wall material preferences appear to be shifting, depending on where you are in the U.S. According to NAHB, which has been closely tracking this data for nearly 25 years: "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 five percentage points in the last 10 years and by 14.2 percentage points in the past 20 years."
The data also shows a vinyl siding decline overall. "Although it has remained steady in recent years, this share has seen a 5.3 percentage point drop in the last 10 years and has had a 12.8 percentage point drop in the last 20 years." However, vinyl siding is still quite popular in some colder climates (especially New England). "Vinyl siding was used on 83.1% of the new homes started in New England, 67.4% in the East North Central, 65.3% in the Middle Atlantic, and 43.2% in the West North Central," per NAHB.
Stucco, meanwhile is increasingly used in the Pacific, Mountain and South Atlantic divisions, while brick and brick veneer remain the primary exterior material used in East and West South Central divisions.
The Bureau also includes more highlights of the 999,000 single-family homes completed in 2023, including:
- 2 percent built for sale in the West were built without air-conditioning.
- 11 percent had two or less bedrooms, and 45 percent had four or more bedrooms.
- 9 percent of contractor-built homes in the Northeast are modular.
- 3 percent of homes in the South had two or more fireplaces.
- 18 percent had a full or partial basement, and 72 percent had a slab or other type of foundation.
- 25 percent in the Northeast were built with only a porch, and 8 percent in the Northeast were built with a porch and patio.
- 63 percent of contractor-built homes in the Northeast were two stories, and 9 percent of contractor-built homes in the Northeast were three stories or more.
- The median size of a completed single-family home was 2,233 square feet.
