Stucco No Longer Most-Used Exterior Wall Material
For the first time since 2018, vinyl siding surpassed stucco as the most used principal exterior wall material. According to the latest annual release of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC), 26% of homes started in 2024 had vinyl or vinyl-covered aluminum siding as their main exterior wall material.
Vinyl was closely followed by stucco at 25% of homes started and fiber cement siding at 23%. Although vinyl has steadily held about a quarter of the market for the last 10 years, its popularity had been much stronger: In 2001, its market share peaked at 40%, but rapidly declined between 2010 and 2015. Conversely, stucco rose in popularity from 17% in 2010 and peaked at 28% in 2021, while fiber cement siding has increased more than 15 percentage points in the last 20 years.
Regionally, the market shares tell a different story. Vinyl was the most used wall exterior material in:
- New England (73%),
- East North Central (69%),
- Mid-Atlantic (68%), and
- West North Central (49%).
On the other hand, stucco was the most used in:
- Pacific (64%),
- Mountain (48%), and
- South Atlantic (33%).
Brick was the most common in South Central.
See more details in this Eye on Housing post.