Although additions to U.S. housing stock decreased 3.8% from 1999 to 2000, natural gas continued to dominate the new single-family home market Seventy percent of single-family homes built in 2000 featured gas heat, according to the 2000 Residential Natural Gas Market Survey released recently by the American Gas Association (AGA). Electric heat captured 27%, and heating oil 3%. Gas matched or exceeded electricity's market share of new single-family home completions in all regions. In the multifamily sector, gas captured 45% of the units completed in 2000 (up from 43% in 1999). Many builders are responding to buyers' demand for amenities by including multiple gas fireplaces, built-in gourmet barbecue grills and garage heaters in new homes. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 59 million residential customers (61% of existing U.S. households) used gas in 2000. About 83% of these gas customers use it for house-heating purposes. The total number of gas residential customers rose by nearly 1 million between 1999 and 2000, the AGA survey found.
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