According to data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), 62.0 percent of all homes started in 2019 were built within a community or homeowner’s association. A total of 545,000 homes with community associations were started in 2019, compared to 543,000 in 2018. The Census Bureau defines community or homeowner’s associations as “formal legal entities created to maintain common areas of a development and to enforce private deed restrictions; these organizations are usually created when the development is built, and membership is mandatory.”

After a decade long upward trend, the share of all new homes built within a community or homeowner’s association declined slightly in 2019. In 2009, the share was 47.6 percent, and in 2010, 48.0 percent. Since 2011, more than 50 percent of all homes have been built within a community or homeowner’s association. In 2018, the share was 62.5 percent, the highest since records began in 2009. The 62.0 percent recorded in 2019 was the second highest.

When analyzed by the 9 census divisions, the highest share was in the Mountain Division, where 79.7 percent of new homes were in such communities. In the New England Division, on the other hand, the share was only 27.7 percent.
In the West South-Central Division, the share was 66.9 percent, while in the East South-Central Division, it was 36.6 percent. In the East North-Central Divisions and West North-Central 48.6 percent and 46.6 percent of new homes started in 2019 were within a community or home owner’s association, respectively.
In the South Atlantic Division, 71.8 percent of new homes started in 2019 had a community or home owner’s association, followed by the Pacific Division at 50.3 percent, and the Middle Atlantic Division at 30.5 percent.

Tags: economics, eye on the economy, home building, single-family