Approximately two-thirds of single-family homes started in 2021 were built within a community or homeowner’s association, according to an NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC). Since the re-design of the SOC in 2009, the 65.5% of new homes built in community associations is the second-highest share.
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% in 2019, after a decade-long upward trend. In 2009, the share was 47.6 percent, and in 2010, 48.0%. Since 2011, more than 50% of all homes have been built within a community or homeowner’s association. In 2018, the share was 62.5%, the second highest and in 2021, 67.1% was the highest since 2009.
When analyzed by the 9 census divisions, the highest share was in the Mountain Division, where 82.4% of new homes were in such communities. In the New England Division, on the other hand, the share was only 34.5%.
