The National Association of Home Builders' analysis of data from the U.S. Census' Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design report indicates that after a period during which market share softened, custom home builders saw some gains during Q4 of 2024, the association's Eye On Housing blog says. Specifically, the NAHB's analysis focuses on home construction data of custom home building that was undertaken on a contract basis, not custom building of homes intended for sale.
There were 47,000 total custom building starts during the fourth quarter of 2024. This marks a 7% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. Over the last four quarters (2024 as a whole), custom housing starts totaled 181,000 homes, just below a 2% increase compared to the prior four quarter total (178,000 in 2023).
Currently, the market share of custom home building, based on a one-year moving average, is approximately 18% of total single-family starts. This is down from a prior cycle peak of 31.5% set during the second quarter of 2009 and the 21% local peak rate at the beginning of 2023, after which spec home building gained market share. Read more
