In April 2016, 22% respondents to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index survey reported that they had used aerial drones at least once in their single-family home construction businesses. When this question was asked again in the March 2018 survey, 46% of builders reported that they had used aerial drones – up from over one-fifth to almost half.
In both surveys, larger single-family builders were more likely to report using drones in their construction process. In 2016, 43% of builders who built 100 homes or more had used drones, compared to only 12% of builders with fewer than 6 home starts.
By 2018, 58% of builders with 100 or more home starts per year reported using drones in their construction progress. However, the share of single-family home builders that had used aerial drones rose across all size categories between 2016 and 2018. Use of drones doubled among builders with 6 to 24 starts, from 23% to 46%, and tripled among builders with six or fewer starts, from 12% to 38%.