How Long Does It Take to Build a New Home?

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, JULY 25, 2016

The average time it takes to complete a new single-family home is seven months, according to recent Census Bureau data. That completion time includes nearly a month for getting the permit to start the project and then another 6 months to complete the construction.

Read more: New Homes Are Getting Bigger and Pricier | Realtor Magazine

Houses built for sale took the shortest amount of time – 6 months to complete after obtaining building permits. On the other hand, homes built by owners averaged the longest time at nearly a year. Homes built for rent averaged about 9 months from permit to completion, the data shows.

Home buyers will likely have the longest waits for their new home in the New England area, which had the longest time from permit to completion at 10 months. On the other hand, the Mountain region had the shortest amount of time at 6 months. The region also has the shortest waiting period from permit to construction start.

Here’s a breakdown by region of the average months from permit to completion of single-family new homes:

• Pacific: 8 months
• Mountain: 6 months
• West north Central: 8 months
• West South Central: 7 months
• East North Central: 8 months
• New England: 10 months
• Middle Atlantic: 10 months
• South Atlantic: 6 months

The Census data also reveals the average days by region from permit to start on the new home:

• Pacific: 31 days
• Mountain: 15 days
• West North Central: 20 days
• West South Central: 35 days
• East North Central: 23 days
• East South Central: 25 days
• New England: 28 days
• Middle Atlantic: 27 days
• South Atlantic: 27 days

Homes in metro areas took, on average, nearly 7.5 months to complete, about 2 months shorter than homes started in non-metro areas.

The data also shows that in 2015 the share of single-family homes sold while under construction was 66 percent. Thirty-two percent of those homes sold before the construction started and 12 percent sold during the same month of completion, according to the Census data. The percentage of single-family homes completed last year that were unsold was only 6 percent, as of the first quarter of 2016.

Source: “Time to Build a Single-Family Home in 2015,” National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing blog (July 20, 2016)