Over the past few years, the housing boom has caused a few shifts in the siding market. Namely, homeowners have felt more comfortable spending money on upgraded siding materials and have increasingly chosen newer, more elaborate trim details and accents in an effort to differentiate their homes from their neighbors’. The recent downturn may affect the number of overall siding jobs and sales volume in the foreseeable future, but the trends of creating distinctive siding designs and the willingness to pay a little extra for an authentic-looking, low-maintenance material will continue to grow.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2005 data on principal types of exterior wall material for new single-family houses sold, vinyl siding held 30 percent market share, with stucco second at 25 percent, followed by brick at 20 percent and other materials slightly below 20 percent.

Wood held a 5 percent share and aluminum was below 5 percent. The data also finds that vinyl siding is the number one choice for homes with price points up to $250,000 and second only to stucco at all price points above $250,000.

With a slightly different breakdown of the siding market, Steve Booz, director of sales and marketing, fiber cement division, CertainTeed, which makes WeatherBoards fiber cement siding, pegs siding market share as follows: Vinyl has 40 percent market share, fiber cement is between 12 and 14 percent, wood-based materials including natural wood and engineered wood products are at 8 to 10 percent, and the rest is divided among stucco, brick and block materials.

In terms of rank and position on that list, not much is expected to change when 2006 market share numbers are released, but the percentages are expected to shift. “Fiber cement is gaining market share quickly in many markets around the country, especially at the expense of wood and composites in the West and South,” Booz says. “In the Midwest and East, vinyl is still king, but fiber cement is gaining there, too.”

Regional Differences

In years past, the West generally was ruled by wood and wood-based siding, the Midwest and East definitely were vinyl territories, and the South was a mixed bag among vinyl and stucco, brick and block materials. But fiber cement is beginning to gain a stronghold there and elsewhere.