The U.S. Census Bureau released a list of characteristics of houses built in 2020, providing a snapshot of the housing construction market during the unprecedented year.
The U.S. Census Bureau released a list of characteristics of houses built in 2020, providing a snapshot of the housing construction market during the unprecedented year.
A total of 912,000 single family homes were completed in 2020, along with 375,000 multifamily units and 14,000 multifamily buildings.
Of the single family homes, 9.8% had two bedrooms or fewer, while 43.9% had four bedrooms or more. Multiple bathrooms were prevalent in new homes, with 33.8% new single family homes sporting three or more. The median size of a completed single family home was 2,261 square feet.
The median sales price of new single family homes sold in 2020 was $336,900, with an average sales price of $391,900. The median contract price for the 123,000 contractor-built single family homes in 2020 was $298,500.
More than 830,000—or 91%—of new single family homes were framed in wood, while 8.2% were framed using concrete.
For multifamily units, 43.7% had one bedroom, while 10.1% had three or more. Conventional apartments made up 99.2% of the multifamily units built, the rest being townhouses. The majority of units—70.1%—were framed in wood, and 10.1% were framed in steel. The median size of multifamily units for rent was 1,075 square feet, and the median size of those built for sale was 1,306 square feet.
Of the 14,000 multifamily buildings built during the year, 21.4% had four floors or more and 85.7% had wood framing. Buildings with 50 units or more numbered 2,000.