Nearly Two-Thirds of Homes Started in 2021 are in Community Associations

According to data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), 65.5 percent of single-family homes started in 2021 were built within a community or homeowner’s association. Since the re-design of the SOC in 2009, this was the second highest percentage for new homes started with an association. 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.”  In absolute numbers, a total of 729,109 homes with community associations were started in 2021, compared to 657,378 in 2020.

The share of all new homes built within a community or homeowner’s association declined slightly to 62.0 percent in 2019, after a decade long upward trend. 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 second highest and in 2021, 67.1 percent was the highest since 2009.

When analyzed by the 9 census divisions, the highest share was in the Mountain Division, where 82.4 percent of new homes were in such communities. In the New England Division, on the other hand, the share was only 34.5 percent.

In the West South-Central Division, 73.1 percent of new homes started in 2021 had a community or homeowner’s association, followed by the South Atlantic Division at 71.3 percent, and the East North-Central Divisions at 54.9 percent. In the Pacific Division, the share was 52.1 percent, while in the West North-Central Division, it was 50.6 percent. In the East South-Central and Middle Atlantic Division 39.4 percent and 35.8 percent of new homes started in 2021 were within a community or homeowner’s association, respectively.