Wood-Framed Homes Continue to Dominate the US Marketplace for Third Straight Year

According to US Census Bureau data and analysis by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), wood framing remained the most dominant construction method for single-family homes in the US last year. Among 2022 completions, 94% of new homes were wood-framed, with another 6% concrete-framed and less than 0.5% percent steel-framed.

On an actual count basis, there were 956,000 wood-framed homes completed in 2022. That is a 7% gain over the 2021 total. The wood-framed home market share has increased for the past three years, growing from 90% in 2019 to 94% in 2022.

As noted above, steel-framed homes are rare, with a total of 3,000 housing completions in 2022—unchanged from 2021.

Concrete-framed homes endured their third straight year of declines in 2022. After a 13% drop in 2020 and a 5% drop in 2021, the total number of concrete-framed homes fell 11% from 71,000 completions in 2021 to 63,000 in 2022. The concrete-framed market share decreased from 10% in 2019 to 6% in 2022.

The NAHB notes that non-wood based framing methods are primarily found in the South due to residential resiliency requirements. In 2022, concrete-framed homes made up 10% of all homes completed in the South. Approximately two-thirds of steel-frame homes completed in 2022 were in the South, with one one-third in the West.