August 02, 2019

The U.S. Census Bureau released in July its 2018 Characteristics of New Housing Report, which provides annual statistics on new, privately owned residential structures. Here’s a sample of the nationwide data in the report.

• The median sales price of new single- family homes sold in 2018 was $326,400, while the average sales price was $385,000.
• 119,000 contractor-built single-family homes were started in 2018. The median contract price was $281,200.
• Of the 840,000 single-family homes completed in 2018: 84,000 had two bedrooms or less
• 376,000 had four bedrooms or more
• 31,000 had one and one-half bathrooms or less
• 306,000 homes had three or more bathrooms
• 778,000 were framed in wood
• 59,000 were framed using concrete
• 270,000 had a patio and a porch
• 69,000 had no outdoor features.

The median size of a completed single-family house was 2,386 square feet. Of the 345,000 multifamily units completed in 2018:

• 150,000 had one bedroom
• 35,000 had three bedrooms or more
• 341,000 were conventional apartments
• 3,000 were townhouses
• 216,000 were in buildings with four floors or more
• 302,000 had individual laundry facilities
• 28,000 had shared laundry facilities
• 235,000 were in buildings framed in wood
• 31,000 were in buildings framed in steel.

The median size of multifamily units built for rent was 1,081 square feet, while the median of those built for sale was 1,414 square feet.