Although the proportion of new homes with porches decreased in 2024, porches remain the most prevalent outside feature on new homes, according to NAHB analysis of the most recent data from the Survey of Construction (SOC, performed by the United States Census Bureau with partial financing from HUD).
According to SOC data, 67.2% of the approximately 1.0 million single-family homes completed in 2024 had porches.
This is only slightly lower than the all-time high of 67.7% reported a year ago.
Porches are also more popular on new homes than the other outdoor elements covered in the SOC, which are patios and, particularly, decks.
Porches on new homes have traditionally been most popular in the four states that comprise the East South Central Census region.
That was true again in 2024, although only by a small margin. In 2024, 81% of new residences in the East South Central division had porches, but this figure was considerably above 70% in three other divisions: Pacific (78%), Mountain (77%), and South Atlantic (74%).
In comparison to the 2023 data given in last year’s post, the porch percentages were up by two points in the East and West South Central divisions, unchanged in the Mountain and South Atlantic divisions, and at least somewhat lower in the other five areas.
The Builder Practices Survey (BPS), which Home Innovation Research Labs conducts annually, provides information on the characteristics of porches on new homes.
According to the 2025 BPS report (based on homes built in 2024), porches are still significantly more common on the front of new single-family homes than on the side or back.
Porches on the front averaging 100 square feet of floor area. The other groups of porches recognized by the SOC, while comparatively rare, tend to be substantially larger: 140 square feet for a side or rear porch and somewhat more than 200 square feet for a screened-in porch.
Concrete remains the most popular material for building new-home porches per square foot. Only one division is still an obvious anomaly in this sense.
In New England, builders rarely use concrete in new-home porches, instead opting for composite (a mixture of reclaimed wood fibers and plastic).
In that section, treated wood, PVC or other polymers, cedar, and natural stone are used more frequently than concrete.
[Read more about this topic on Eyeonhousing.org]