The nation’s housing stock is quickly aging. The median age of an owner-occupied home rose to 37 years in 2015, up from 31 years a decade ago, according to the latest data from the 2015 American Community Survey. As of 2015, more than half of the housing stock in the U.S. was built prior to 1980. Thirty-eight percent of the homes were built prior to 1970. Meanwhile, homes constructed after 2000 comprise 19 percent of the housing stock.
“This housing stock aging trend signals a growing market for remodelers, as older structures normally require additional remodeling and renovations,” the National Association of Home Builders notes on its Eye on Housing blog. “It also implies a rising demand for new construction over the long run.”
The District of Columbia has the oldest homes with a median age of 75 years. New York and Massachusetts also have some of the oldest housing stock at 57 and 53 years, respectively.
On the other hand, the West offers some of the newest homes. The median age of homes in Nevada is 20 years and in Arizona half of all occupied homes were built in the last 24 years.
“The geographic distribution of the age of the owner-occupied housing stock is strongly correlated with population changes from 2000 to 2015,” NAHB notes on its blog. “The population changes, including both natural growth and net migration, signal the rising demand for housing. States with faster population growth tend to have newer housing stock.”
View the following chart to see the average age of the housing stock by state.
Source: “The Age of Housing Stock,” National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing blog (Jan. 5, 2017) and “Age of Housing Stock by State,” National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing blog (Jan. 5, 2017)
