Study sees South as siding stronghold

Of the four major geographic regions in the United States, the South led the way in 2016 siding sales.

That’s according to a study recently published by Cleveland, Ohio-based research firm The Freedonia Group.  The Study shows the South accounted for 43% of the $3.3 billion market in 2016. Distributors’ sales in the region were driven by increases in housing starts and existing home sales.  Additionally, the South saw a number of severe weather events that caused damage to siding in many states in that year.

Through 2021, the West is forecast to experience the most rapid gains in distributor sales. Many homebuilders in the region do not install siding, but instead subcontract out siding installation jobs to local contractors, the study notes.

Sales of siding by distributors in the Midwest and Northeast are expected to rise at a more modest pace through 2021.  While distributors account for a larger share of siding sales in these regions than they do in the South and the West, below average gains in the regions’ housing stocks will restrain growth, according to the report.