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The average, or arithmetic mean, is obtained by dividing the sum of all values of a characteristic by the number of houses reporting that characteristic. For example, the average, or arithmetic mean, sales price of new one-family houses sold is obtained by dividing the sum of all the sales prices reported by the number of houses reporting a sales price.
For the purposes of this survey, a full bathroom is one that has a wash basin, a toilet, and either a bathtub or shower, or a combination of bathtub and shower. A half bathroom is one that has either a toilet, bathtub, or shower, but not all the facilities to be classified as a full bathroom. If the respondent reported a full bathroom and two half bathrooms, the house is classified as a two-bathroom house.
A bedroom is a finished room specifically designed to be used for sleeping. A den, a space in the attic, or a basement which could be converted to a bedroom are not counted as bedrooms. A one-room house is considered to have one bedroom.
The closing costs are costs customarily chargeable to the buyer for items which are incidental to the transaction. These costs include the initial service charge of the mortgage, cost of title search, charges for the preparation of deed and mortgage documents, mortgage tax, recording fees, and similar items. For houses sold with FHA-insured mortgages, they include an examination or application fee. Items not included in closing costs are deposits for unaccrued taxes, insurance premiums, and similar items that are treated as prepayable expenses. If any of these costs are included in the sales price, the closing costs are considered included in the sales price.
A house is defined as completed when all finished flooring has been installed (or carpeting if used in place of finished flooring). If the building is occupied before all construction is finished, it is classified as completed at the time of occupancy. In privately owned buildings with two or more housing units, all the units in the buildings are counted as completed when 50 percent or more of the units are occupied or available for occupancy. In most of these buildings all units within the building actually become available for occupancy at the same time. In some larger apartment buildings, some floors or some units are completed and occupied before other parts of the building are completed. In these cases, housing units counted as completed prior to completion of the entire building tend to be offset by those housing units in other buildings actually completed during that month but which had been counted as completed previously.
A type of ownership in which each owner owns the interior walls of the unit. The owner of each unit also holds a common or joint ownership in all common areas and facilities associated with the unit; such as, land, roof, exterior walls, hallways, entrances, elevators, lobbies, etc.
Finished 3-dimensional sections of the complete dwelling, built in a factory and transported to the to be joined together on a permanent foundation.
Shipped from the factory as a package of wall panels, roof trusses, and other components to be assembled on site. May include all materials required to finish the house as a complete package. For purposes of this report panelized houses are included in the "Other" category.
A package of lumber or timber (logs), precut to exact size, length, and quantity, to be assembled on site. Package may also include plumbing, wiring, and/or heating system elements. For purposes of this report precut houses are included in the "Other" category.
Built entirely on site except that it may include some factory components such as roof and floor trusses, wall panels, door frames, etc.
This category includes all houses built for owner occupancy on owner's land with construction under the supervision of a single general contractor.
The contract price used in this survey for contractor-built houses is the price on the original contract awarded to the general contractor. The contract price does not reflect any subsequent changes in the price resulting from change orders or from any other factors affecting the price of the house. It does not include the cost of any contracts awarded to a different contractor for work on the grounds around the house, nor does it include any proposed expenditures on the house after construction is completed by the general contractor. Finally, because the house is being built for the owner's occupancy on the owner's own land, the contract price does not include the cost of the land.
A floored area without a roof, not sitting directly on the ground, typically made of wood.
One room apartment units or studio apartment units which have no room designated specifically for sleeping.
The statistics on exterior wall material relate only to the principal type used; that is, the material covering more than half the exterior wall. While the definitions of most exterior wall materials are straight forward, three may not be. They are:
A durable building product made from cellulose fiber, Portland cement, ground sand, and select additives mixed with water and formed into siding panels.
A durable finish applied wet that usually consists of cement, sand, and lime.
Any of various tough, flexible, and shiny plastics used for covering walls.
For houses sold the type of financing tabulated in this survey is the type reported at the time the original sales agreement was signed or deposit accepted. Although changes in the type of financing do occur between the original contract signing and final settlement, these changes are not reflected in the data.
The FHA and VA type-of-financing data presented in this report tend to differ from those published directly by those agencies. For the actual number of FHA-insured and VA-guaranteed loans made for new houses at the time of final settlement, refer to the publications of the respective agencies. The data differ because of the difference in time periods between the signing of the original sales contract, the start of construction, and the insurance or guarantee of the mortgage, as well as the sampling variability in this survey.
Early in 1995, the Farmers Home Administration was reorganized. As part of this reorganization the Rural Housing Service now handles the mortgage functions formerly done by the Farmers Home Administration.
The data include those made of masonry, tile, metal, or other permanently installed materials that are a fixed and integral part of the building, including both gas and wood burning varieties.
For this survey, floor area is defined as all completely finished floor space, including space in basements and attics with finished walls, floors, and ceilings.
In concept, measurement is based on exterior dimensions. Measurements are taken to the outside of exterior walls for detached houses. Builders sometimes provide the gross square footage (based on exterior dimensions) of a detached structure. This footage usually does not contain unfinished space. However, in townhomes, the gross square footage often includes the whole lower level, even though that area might include a garage and unfinished rooms. For purposes of this survey, where the floor area for a new house was reported based on interior dimensions, the figure was converted to exterior dimensions by multiplying by a standard conversion factor of 1.08. A standard conversion factor of 1.04 was used to convert figures to exterior dimensions where it was not known whether the reported area was based on exterior or interior dimensions.
Refers to a heating/cooling system which utilizes indoor and outdoor coils, a compressor, and refrigerant to pump hot air in during the winter and out during the summer. Only heat pumps that are centrally installed with ducts to the rooms are included in this category. This includes both air-source and geothermal (ground-source) versions
A housing unit, as defined for purposes of this report, is a house, an apartment, a group of rooms or a single room intended for occupancy as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live separately from any other individuals in the building and which have a direct access from the outside of the building or through a common hall. In accordance with this definition, each apartment unit in an apartment building is counted as one housing unit. Housing units, as distinguished from "HUD-code" manufactured (mobile) homes, include conventional "site-built" units, prefabricated, panelized, componentized, sectional, and modular units. Housing unit statistics in these tables exclude group quarters (such as dormitories and rooming houses), transient accommodations (such as transient hotels, motels, and tourist courts), "HUD-code" manufactured (mobile) homes, moved or relocated units, and housing units created in an existing residential or nonresidential structure.
In addition to single-family detached houses, the definition of single-family houses also includes those townhouses attached together in groups of two or more which are partitioned from each other by a ground-to-roof wall. Also, these units must not share heating/air-conditioning systems or interstructural public utilities, such as water supply, power supply, or sewage disposal lines.
The median is equal to the middle point value of all values for a characteristic reported. The point is chosen so that half the values are below this middle point and half are above this middle point. For example, the median sales price of new one-family houses sold is the middle point of all sales prices reported; that is, the point is chosen so that half the houses were sold with a sales price below the middle point and half with a sales price above this middle point. A full write up of the methodology used for medians can be found here.
The titles and definitions for Metropolitan Areas (MAs); which are made up of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas (CMSAs), and Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas (PMSAs); conform to those defined by the Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, as of June 1993 and with amendments through June 1999. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has updated its definitions of the Metropolitan Statistical Areas in 2003. Data on characteristics of new housing will reflect the new definitions in 2005. Until such time, the 1993 definitions will be used when referring to Inside and Outside Metropolitan areas. Click here to see more information on metropolitan areas.
This category, "new houses sold", includes all new one-family houses for which a sales contract has been signed or a deposit accepted. This includes houses for which a sales contract is signed or deposit accepted before construction is actually started; for instance, houses sold from a model or from plans before any work is started on the footings or foundations. It also includes houses sold while under construction or after completion; that is, houses built on speculation. Land, in some form, is included in the sales transaction. Thus, this category includes new one-family houses sold under condominium and cooperative arrangements.
This category includes houses built for owner occupancy, on the owner's land, under the supervision of the owner acting as the general contractor: (1) in most cases built partly by the owner and partly with paid help; (2) sometimes built entirely with the employment of subcontractors; and (3) occasionally on a "do-it-yourself" basis. This category includes houses built by Habitat For Humanity and other houses built under similar arrangements.
A floored area, with or without a roof, sitting directly on the ground. This does not include small concrete pads at entryways.
A floored area with a roof, enclosed or open, not sitting directly on the ground. This does not include small covered entryways.
The standard Census geographic regions are used in the tables of this report. Click here to see a map (in PDF format) showing the regional boundaries. States contained in each region are as follows:
| Northeast | Midwest | South | West |
| Connecticut | Illinois | Alabama | Alaska |
| Maine | Indiana | Arkansas | Arizona |
| Massachusetts | Iowa | Delaware | California |
| New Hampshire | Kansas | District of Columbia | Colorado |
| New Jersey | Michigan | Florida | Hawaii |
| New York | Minnesota | Georgia | Idaho |
| Pennsylvania | Missouri | Kentucky | Montana |
| Rhode Island | Nebraska | Louisiana | Nevada |
| Vermont | North Dakota | Maryland | New Mexico |
| Ohio | Mississippi | Oregon | |
| South Dakota | North Carolina | Utah | |
| Wisconsin | Oklahoma | Washington | |
| South Carolina | Wyoming | ||
| Tennessee | |||
| Texas | |||
| Virginia | |||
| West Virginia |
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The sales price used in the survey for new houses sold is the price agreed upon between purchaser and seller (and reported by the latter) at the time the first sales contract is signed or deposit is made for the house. The sales price does not reflect any subsequent price changes resulting from change orders or from any other factors affecting the price of the house. Furthermore, the sales price does not include the cost of any extras or options paid for in cash by the purchaser or otherwise not included in the original sales price reported by the seller.
Start of construction occurs when excavation begins for the footings or foundation of a building. All housing units in a multifamily building are defined as being started when this excavation begins. Beginning with data in September 1992 estimates of housing starts include units in structures being totally rebuilt on an existing foundation.
That portion of a building between the floor and the ceiling or roof, or the next floor above in the case of a multistory house. A basement is not counted as a story even if it is finished as a den or recreation room. Houses referred to as "bi-levels" or "split foyers" are classified as two-story houses.
A story finished as living accommodations located wholly or partly within the roof frame is considered a half story. It is tabulated in this survey as a whole story; for example, one and one-half stories is counted as two.
Identifies a structure having floors on more than one level when the difference in some floor levels is less than one story. This definition is interpreted on the basis of local custom and may vary from area to area.
Estimates of characteristics of new housing are obtained from the Survey of Construction (SOC). SOC is comprised of two parts: (1) Survey of Use of Permits (SUP) which estimates the amount of new home sales in areas that require a building permit and (2) Nonpermit Survey (NP) which estimates the amount of new home sales in areas that do not require a building permit. Less than 1 percent of all new single-family home sales take place in nonpermit areas. Data from both parts of SOC are collected by Census field representatives. For SUP they visit a sample of permit offices and select a sample of permits issued for new housing. These permits are then followed through to see when they are started, completed and sold if the one-family unit was built to be sold. Each project is also surveyed to collect information on characteristics of the structure. For NP, roads in sampled nonpermit land areas are driven at least once every three months to see if there is any new construction. Once new residential construction is found, it is followed up the same as in SUP.
The Census field representatives use interviewing software on laptop computers to collect the data. Facsimiles of the computer-based questionnaires are provided to respondents to familiarize them with the survey. These facsimiles show the questions that are asked for housing units in single-family buildings Form SOC-QI/SF.1 and in multiunit buildings Form SOC-QI/MF.1.
For more geographic information, please refer to our definitions of Regions.
Within each of these 169 areas, the sample was selected from two different sample frames: permit-issuing places and land areas not covered by building permit systems.
Each permit-issuing place was assigned to one of six size classes based on a weighted average of 1978, 1981, and 1982 permit activity. The two most recent years available for the SOC redesign, 1981 and 1982, were unusual because of recession. Future activity was expected to return toward the pre-recession distribution. It was thought that averaging 1981 and 1982 with 1978 would include this tendency to return to the pre-recession distribution but also reflect a permanent change in the distribution of activity due to the changes in the economy. The activity levels were standardized by dividing by the US activity for each year because the activity levels were quite different in the three years. The permit places in each of the 169 areas were grouped into these six size classes and a systematic sample of places was selected from each size class. Places were selected at different sampling rates in each of the classes so that larger proportions of the places were selected from the larger size classes. For example, all places in the largest size classes fell into sample, but only an expected 1 in 40 of the places in the smallest size class fell into sample. Approximately 840 permit-issuing places were selected. Due to splits and mergers of local permit systems, there are now about 900 permit offices in the Survey of Construction.
Monthly, Census field representatives sample permits from these 900 permit-issuing places. They select permits for one-to-four-unit buildings with probability proportional to the number of units at an overall rate of 1 in 40. All permits for buildings with five units or more are selected.
Within each of the 169 areas, the land not covered by building permit systems, called nonpermit areas, was identified. Small land areas (1980 Census enumeration districts) in these nonpermit areas were grouped into two strata according to the 1980 population. Overall, 1 out of every 120 land areas was selected from the strata with the larger areas and 1 out of 600 was selected from the strata with the smaller areas. Monthly, census field representatives canvassed about 130 selected land areas looking for all housing units started.
In January 1995, the area covered by building permit systems was expanded
to 19,000 permit-issuing places. Canvassing was stopped in those selected
land areas now represented by permit-issuing places. Census field representatives
continue to canvass about 70 land areas still not covered by building permit
systems. Due to the small amount of new construction activity, many areas
are now only canvassed once every three months.
V.c Statement about the Possible Impact on New Home Prices and Characteristics due to the Survey of Construction Sample Change
Effective with the January 2005 data release, the Survey of Construction implemented a new sample of building permit offices from which sampled houses are selected. The sample of permit offices was redesigned to reflect the location of building permit activity in the past few years, replacing the previous sample selected in 1985. The selection of the approximately 900 permit offices in the new sample was designed to optimize the precision of the housing starts estimates. No attempt was made to select offices representing geographic areas with similar housing prices and characteristics as the old sample. As a result, data users should use caution when analyzing year over year changes in housing prices and characteristics between 2004 and 2005. It may be possible, for example, that many jurisdictions in the 1985 sample are more built up now, remaining land may be more expensive, remaining lots may be smaller, etc. These jurisdictions may have been replaced in the new sample with more outlying areas that are now actively issuing building permits. In these locations land may be more abundant, lot sizes might be larger, and sales prices possibly lower. It is important to note that estimates from the old and new samples are both statistically correct. The actual values that we are trying to estimate fall within intervals that can be calculated from the sample data with known probabilities. For example, when we publish an estimate with a relative standard error (RSE) of 5%, there is a 90% chance that the true value is within "8% (statistically defined as 1.6 times the RSE) of the estimate.
Effective in April 2001, with revisions back to January 1999, changes were made to the methodology used to generate these estimates. The methodology used is described below. For a full explanation of the changes and an estimate of the effect on the estimates, click here.
Response rate: The percentage of respondents answering a survey question. The overall response rate for all new houses covered by this survey is very high. However, response to individual items varied. For the physical characteristics, such as number of bedrooms or bathrooms, the response rate is within the range of 95 to 99 percent. Items with response rates somewhat lower are those related to the sales price of new houses sold or the contract price of contractor-built houses started.
These estimates are based on sample surveys and may differ from statistics
which would have been obtained from a complete census using the same schedules
and procedures. An estimate based on a sample survey is subject to both
sampling error and non-sampling error. The accuracy of a survey result
is determined by the joint effects of these errors.
Estimates of the standard errors have been computed from the sample data for selected statistics in this report. They are presented in the tables in the form of average relative standard errors. The relative standard error equals the standard error divided by the estimated value to which it refers.
The sample estimate and an estimate of its standard error allow us to construct interval estimates with prescribed confidence that the interval includes the average result of all possible samples with the same size and design. For example, suppose the New Home Sales table showed that an estimated 70,000 houses were sold in a particular month. Further, suppose that the average relative standard error of this estimate is 3 percent. Multiplying 70,000 by 0.03, we obtain 2,100 as the standard error. This means that we are confident, with 2 chances out of 3 of being correct, that the average estimate from all possible samples of houses sold during the particular month is between 67,900 and 72,100 houses. To increase the probability to about 9 chances out of 10 that the interval contains the average value over all possible samples (this is called a 90-percent confidence interval), multiply 2,100 by 1.6, yielding limits of 66,640 and 73,360 (70,000 houses plus or minus 3,360 houses). The average estimate of houses sold during the specified month may or may not be contained in any one of these computed intervals; but for a particular sample, one can say that the average estimate from all possible samples is included in the constructed interval with a specified confidence of 90 percent.
Ranges of 90-percent confidence intervals for estimated percent changes
are shown in the text. When the range of the confidence interval contains
zero, it is unclear whether there was an increase or decrease; that is,
the change is not statistically significant.
As described in the section, "Methodology Used for Data through 1998," a potential source of bias prior to 1999 was the upward adjustment of 3.3 percent made to account for houses sold in permit-issuing areas without permit authorization.
Another source is the adjustment for houses sold prior to permit authorization
and for late reports. The preliminary estimates of privately owned houses sold are adjusted
upward about 40 percent; the final estimates about 5 percent.
For additional information, call the Residential Construction Branch. Telephone: 301-763-5160.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Last revised: February 05, 2008
Last revised: February 05, 2008