Porches remain hot addition to new homes

Porches are still on trend as a part of single-family homes being built, according to the National Association of Homebuilders’ report, In New England, Two-Thirds of New Homes Include Decks.

In 2015, of the 714,500 single-family homes started, 64 percent had porches, compared to only 23 percent with decks. Since 2005, the number of homes started with porches has increased from 54 percent, and since 2009, the percent has been 63 or higher.

On the other hand, there has been a decrease in new homes built with decks, according to the NAHB. For the period between 2005 and 2008, more than 25 percent of new homes started had decks, but since then, the percentage has dipped below 2011’s high.

In the Middle Atlantic region, which included Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, 46 percent of new homes started included porches, the lowest percentage across the country, however, a huge increase from 23 percent in 2012. Meanwhile, 88 percent of the East South Central, which includes Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky, had porches on single-family homes being built in 2015.

In the Middle Atlantic region, 37 percent of new homes started last year had decks, much higher than the national average, but not as high as New England’s 69 percent. For the Middle Atlantic, that is an 11 percent increase since 2012.

However, it is not just new homes that want decks or porches. Sixteen percent of NAHB remodelers said that the addition of or enclosing a porch was a “common” project for them in 2015. More than one-quarter said the same thing for decks.