Custom Home Building Share Declines in 2023

In 2023, 18.8 percent of all new single-family homes started were custom homes. This share decreased from the 20.4 percent recorded in 2022, according to data tabulated from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC). The custom home market consists of contractor-built and owner-built homes—homes built one at a time for owner occupancy on the owner’s land, with either the owner or a builder acting as a general contractor. The alternatives are homes built-for-sale (on the builder’s land, often in subdivisions, with the intention of selling the house and land in one transaction) and homes built-for-rent.  

In 2023, 71.5 percent of the single-family homes started were built-for-sale, and 9.7 percent were built-for-rent. At an 18.9 percent share, the number of custom homes started in 2023 was 177,850, falling from 207,472 in 2022. 

The quarterly published statistics show that the custom home share of single-family starts showed gains in the second quarter of 2024 after some recent slowing. Although the quarterly statistics are timelier, they lack the geographic detail available in the annual data set.

When analyzed across the 9 census divisions, the annual data show that the highest custom home share in 2023 was 35.5 percent in the East South-Central division. While the lowest share was in the West South-Central division, where the share was only 11.9 percent. The share of custom homes across U.S. divisions are showed in the map below.