According to data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction, the custom home share increased to 20.2% of all single-family homes started in 2019, the National Association of Home Builders reports. Contractor-built or owner-built houses—that together make up the custom home market—are built one at a time for owner occupancy on owner’s land with either the owner or a builder acting as the general contractor. The alternative is homes built for sale, on the builder’s land, with the intention of selling the house and land in one transaction.
While the percent share of custom homes increased from 19.5% in 2018 to 20.2% in 2019, the percent share of built for sale decreased from 80.5% in 2018 to 75.4 in 2019. In 2019, the Census Bureau began flagging homes built for rent as a separate category, rather than including them in homes built for sale. The share of homes built for rent in 2019 was 4.4%.
See more at NAHB’s Eye on Housing blog.
