The Housing Stock is Aging

The nation's housing stock is aging. In 2015, the average household occupied a housing unit with a median age of 39 (built in 1976), according to the American Housing Survey. This is more than twice the median age of housing in 1975 (median age of 18, built in 1957).

The youth of the housing stock in 1975 was a consequence of the postwar baby boom, which was also a building boom providing a fresh supply of housing for a rapidly expanding and increasingly affluent population. In the following four decades, new housing has been a shrinking share of the total housing stock. Because of the aging of the housing stock, it will be many more years before new building technologies are a part of the average American home. But there's a silver lining—growing opportunities for renovation and building upgrades.

Occupied housing units: median year built (and age of average structure)

2015: 1976 (39 years)

2005: 1973 (32 years)

1995: 1967 (28 years)

1985: 1962 (23 years)

1975: 1957 (18 years)

Source: Census Bureau, American Housing Survey