Patios Are Now Built on Over Half of New Homes
The National Association of Home Builders reported that over 60% of new homes built in 2020 have patios. This is the first time since the Census Bureau’s 2005 survey that patios have been on over 50% of new homes. There were around 990,000 single-family homes started in 2020 and 61.4% of these homes had patios.
The shares of new homes with patios started to dip in 2007 from 50.4% in 2006 to 48.8% in 2007. The shares did not begin on the upwards trend again until 2011. The big increase from 2019 at 59.6% to 2020 at 61.4% was due to buyers’ change in desires in what they want in a home. The pandemic caused us to rethink what is important when it comes to a home. Having a private place to spend outdoors became very important.
The nine US Census divisions also saw a drastic change across the board. Surprisingly the Mountain division was the highest at 74%, next was West South Central at 73%, the South Atlantic at 67%, and the Pacific at 59% all at over 50%. The remaining regions were all under 50% with the East North Central coming in at 47%, the West North Central and East South Central at 41%, New England at 21% and Middle Atlantic at 19%.
As for the construction and size of patios, those also differ. The majority of the patios across the board are constructed of poured concrete, followed closely by concrete and brick pavers. The average size across the board for a patio on a new single-family home was reported to be about 278 square feet. The largest were over 350 square feet in the Mid Atlantic, East North Central and Pacific divisions. The smallest which were under 200 square feet were found in the East South Central division.