Brace your new-home buyers for their home’s wait time: The average time to complete a single-family home is about 7.5 months, according to the Census Bureau’s 2016 Survey of Construction. That includes nearly a month of permitting before any construction takes place, and then another 6.5 months to finish the actual construction.
However, the time to build can greatly depend on geographic location. For example, the New England region had the longest time to build, at a 10.5-month average. The South Atlantic region, on the other hand, had the shortest build times at an average of 6.5 months.
Take a look at the chart below to see how build times vary by region.
The time to build also varied greatly by type of construction. For example, single-family homes completed in 2016 took the shortest amount of time to complete after obtaining building permits, finishing at 7 months. Meanwhile, homes built by owners took the longest time, averaging 13 months. Homes built for rent took an average of 10 months from permit to completion. Homes built by hired contractors typically took about 9 months to build, according to the data.
Source: “Time to Build a Single-Family Home in 2016,” National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing blog (Sept. 6, 2017)
