Vinyl siding was the most commonly used exterior wall material for newly constructed homes in 2024.
It accounts for just more than a quarter of all homes, outpacing stucco for the first time since 2018.
According to the most recent yearly publication of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), 26% of residences built in 2024 used vinyl siding (including vinyl-covered aluminum) as their primary exterior wall materials. Vinyl was followed by stucco at 25% and fiber cement siding (e.g. Hardiplank or Hardiboard) at 23%.
Each of these materials accounts for approximately 25% of the market, with brick or brick veneer accounting for another 16%.
Last year, just 6% of single-family homes used wood or wood products as the primary exterior wall material, while 1% used stone, rock, or other stone resources, 1% used other materials, and 0.2% used cement blocks.
While vinyl had previously had a significantly greater share, reaching nearly 40% in 2001, it decreased by more than 10% between 2010 and 2015.
However, since 2015, this percentage has remained pretty consistent at roughly 26%. Meanwhile, stucco grew fast from 17% in 2010 to a recent peak of 28% in 2021.
However, the most significant change has been the increasing use of fiber cement siding.
Fiber cement siding has expanded its share of the external siding material by 5.5 percentage points in the last 10 years, and by more than 15 percentage points in the last twenty years.
Brick siding has also declined in popularity, from nearly a quarter of homes in 2012 to only 16% in 2024.
Although vinyl siding is most prevalent in the United States, there are significant disparities in siding use across geography.
In 2024, vinyl siding was most popular in the Midwest and Northeast.
Vinyl siding was installed on 73% of new homes in New England, 69% in the East North Central, 68% in the Middle Atlantic, and 49% in the West North Central region.
In 2024, stucco was the most popular primary external wall material in the Pacific, Mountain, and South Atlantic divisions, accounting for 64%, 48%, and 33%, respectively.Brick or brick veneer was the most popular external siding material in the East South Central (39%) and West South Central divisions (48%).
The West South Central division also has a significantly greater proportion of wood major exterior residences (27%).
[Read more about this topic on Eyeonhousing.org]