Information obtained from the public-use microdata files provided by the US Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC) and tabulated by NAHB, shows that there is a greater share of two or more story homes completed than one story homes. In addition, the greatest share of two or more story homes are in divisions along the coasts of the country. Analysis of the data shows that the Northeast region has a significantly higher proportion of two or more story single-family home completions compared to its counterparts across the country. Similarly, the Pacific Division, a component of the West Region, also has a noticeably higher proportion of two or more story homes completed.
Looking deeper, the similarities between the West and the South mask differences between the Census divisions that compose each region. While overall, 59% of single-family completed homes in the West were two or more stories, 69% were two or more stories in the Pacific Division while fewer than half, 47% were two or more stories in the Mountain Division. Similarly, while 57% of single-family completed homes were two or more stories across the entire South region, 66% of completed homes in the South Atlantic were two or more stories. In contrast, fewer than half of completed homes in the West South Central division were two or more stories. In the East South Central 58% of homes were two or more stories.
The map below illustrates how two or more story homes account for the largest portion of completed homes in coastal divisions of the country, New England, Middle Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Pacific. The high share of two or more story completed homes in the Northeast, encompassing the New England and Middle Atlantic divisions, may partly reflect expensive lot values. Recent NAHB analysis found that median lot values in the New England and Middle Atlantic divisions far surpasses lot values elsewhere in the country. At the same time higher density and land constraints may also have contributed to a higher proportion of two or more story homes across coastal divisions.
Post by JOSEPH SALVIA – NAHB Eye On Housing