Homebuilders who work in New England might increase their sales if they build small homes on big lots: A National Association of Home Builders report says buyers there will pay more per square foot than any other region of the country.
On the other hand, Southerners prefer low per-square-foot prices and cheap land, and are willing to forego amenities like basements to hold down their costs. Yet a basement is a must for single-family homeowners in the chillier Northeast and Midwest.
Here are six other regional trends identified in the NAHB report “Regional Differences in New Homes Started in 2013,” which researchers based on an analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction:
How many stories? Nationwide, most new single-family homes are two stories tall—except in the Midwest, where the style and the preference of locals calls for just one.
Water and sewer: New Englanders don’t mind getting their water from individual wells, which bucks the trend in the rest of the country, where just 9% of new homes aren't connected to public water and sewer services.
Porch, deck or patio: Depends where you’re building. Porches top the list for most U.S. homeowners. But in the West and the West South Central states, patios are king; in fact, three out of four new homes in the West South Central region have patios. And although decks are losing their following nationwide, New Englanders seem to prefer them.
Exteriors: New Englanders also like to mix siding materials instead of covering their homes with one style. But vinyl siding reigns in the Northwest, and two out of three Midwestern homes sport the popular cladding. Western homes are most often clad in stucco, while brick is the façade of choice in the South. The popularity of fiber cement is growing across the country: It’s the second most-used siding material in the Pacific, Mountain and West South Central states.
Financing: Don’t be surprised if your New England customers want to pay cash for their new homes. But elsewhere, conventional loans from traditional banks are most common. Still, in the West and South, FHA-insured loans are on the rise, and VA-guaranteed loans are strong in the South Atlantic and Mountain states.
Spec houses: The number of spec houses has declined recently—from 79% of new, single-family homes in 2005 to less than 65% in 2010, and then back up to 74% in 2013. Most likely to build and buy spec homes are those in Western, Mountain and Pacific states. Spec houses are less common in the Northeast and East North Central States, where homeowners prefer custom homes. The East South Central region has the most homes built with the intention to rent.
“This recent analysis really illustrates the many different types of homes built throughout the country,” said Wilmington, DE, homebuilder Kevin Kelly, who is NAHB’s chairman. “It is fascinating to see how newly built homes can vary significantly not only in design features and building materials, but also in terms of lot size, home prices and financing methods used, simply based on where a home is built.”