The top 10 companies' share of new single-family home transactions in 2023 was 42.2%, down 1.3 percentage points from 2022 (43.5%). This is the second-highest share of the top 10 companies since NAHB began tracking new single-family home transactions in 1989. This share represents 280,958 of the 665,500 transactions in 2023. However, the top 10 companies' transactions represent only 28.1% of new single-family home completions, a broader measure of homebuilding that also includes non-for-sale home construction.
Historical data shows that since 1989, the top 10 companies' share of new single-family home sales has been on an overall upward trend. That year, the top 10 companies accounted for 8.7% of sales, but by 2000, their share had more than doubled to 18.7%. In 2006, it reached 28.2%, then dropped below that level, but in 2018, the top 10 companies' share of sales exceeded 30% for the first time (31.5%). After a brief decline, their share hit record highs for two consecutive years in 2021 (34.4%) and 2022 (43.5%) before declining slightly in 2023 (42.2%) (Figure 1).
In terms of the number of completed homes (including both custom-built and for-sale homes), the top 10 companies' share was 5.6% in 1989. In 1999, the share reached double digits for the first time, achieving 11.3%. The share reached a high of 17.9% in 2006, but fell to 16.2% in 2008, finally recovering to 18.4% in 2012. Since exceeding 20% (21%) for the first time in 2015, the share has continued its upward trend, reaching a record high of 28.1% in 2023 (Figure 1).
All of the top 10 homebuilders from 2022 returned to the top 10 in 2023, but only one company experienced a change in its position in the top 10. Toll Brothers and Century Communities reversed positions in 2023, moving up to 9th and 10th place, respectively. D.R. Horton maintained its position as America’s largest single-family homebuilder, capturing 13.6% of the market with 90,777 transactions. This marks the third consecutive year that D.R. Horton has captured more than 10% of the market and its 22nd consecutive year at the top of the list. Lennar and Pulte Group rank second and third with 11% and 4.3%. Both companies have maintained the same position since 2013. Additionally, 2023 marks the second consecutive year that the top three builders account for more than a quarter of the total (28.4% in 2022 and 28.9% in 2023) (Figure 2).
Builder Magazine will soon release its 2023 Local Leaders data on the top 10 builders in the top 50 U.S. new home markets (ranked by number of single-family home permits), which NAHB will analyze in a later post.
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