NAHB’s analysis of Census Data from the Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design survey indicates custom home building posted a year-over-years gain for the first quarter of 2022. There were 46,000 total custom building starts during the first quarter of the year. This marks a 28% increase from the first quarter of 2021.
Over the last four quarters, custom housing starts totaled 205,000 units, a 13.9% gain from the prior four-quarter total.
After some market share declines due to a rise in spec building post-covid, the market share for custom homes is increasing. As measured on a one-year moving average, the market share of custom home building, in terms of total single-family starts, increased to 18%. This is nonetheless down from a cycle high of 31.5% set during the second quarter of 2009.
Note that this definition of custom home building does not include homes intended for sale, so the analysis in this post uses a narrow definition of the sector. It represents home construction undertaken on a contract basis for which the builder does not hold tax basis in the structure during construction.
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