Home Building Grew at the Fastest Rate in 7 Years in 2020

New single-family home construction increased by 12% in 2020 from the previous year, marking the most rapid growth rate since 2013. There were 993,635 new single-family construction starts, the highest count since the Great Recession, says the National Association of Home Builders. The data comes from the US Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction, which also found that just three US regions accounted for 66% of all new single-family housing starts: South Atlantic, West South Central, and Mountain Divisions. The South Atlantic region had the most starts at 329,422 while New England posted the least at 27,781.

In addition, single-family units started in the Pacific Division increased to 101,999 in 2020, exceeding 100,000 for the first year since the 2008 recession. There were 84,095 new single-family units started in the East North Central Division in 2020. While the Pacific Division accounted for 10% of the total new single-family housing starts, the East North Central Division accounted for 8%. The other four divisions, including East South Central, West North Central, Middle Atlantic and New England, accounted for the remaining 16% of the total new single-family housing starts.

In 2020, nationally, new single-family housing starts rose by 12. Five out of the nine divisions grew faster than the national level of 12%. The New England Division led the way with a 27% increase, followed by the Mountain Division and the East North Central Division with an 19% increase each, the South Atlantic Division and the West South Central Division with a 12% increase each. The growth rates of the other four divisions were below the national level.