Housing Starts Fall 5.2% to a 1.221 Million Pace in September as Single-Family Permits Slide 4.0%
New residential construction slowed in September, according to the joint report (release CB26-162) issued October 20 by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Privately-owned housing starts ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,221,000, down 5.2% from the revised August rate of 1,288,000 and 7.4% below the September 2025 rate of 1,319,000.
Single-family starts were at a rate of 859,000, down 4.6% from August, while starts in buildings with five units or more came in at 349,000.
Building permits, a gauge of construction in the pipeline, were at an annual rate of 1,400,000, 0.2% below August and 3.0% below a year earlier. Single-family authorizations fell 4.0% to 845,000, the lowest reading in 13 months, while authorizations in buildings with five units or more were at 503,000.
Housing completions were at an annual rate of 1,192,000, up 2.2% from August but 14.0% below the September 2025 rate of 1,386,000. Single-family completions slipped 2.4% to 840,000, and completions in buildings with five units or more were 339,000, pointing to a continued thin flow of finished new homes reaching the market.
The Census Bureau notes that the monthly changes in starts and completions are not statistically significant, since their 90% confidence intervals include zero, and that it can take about six months to establish an underlying trend in total starts. The October report is scheduled for release on November 18.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国一处独栋住宅的木框架施工现场（资料图）。Wikimedia Commons 图片（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 / Photo: Wood framing going up at a U.S. single-family home construction site (file photo). Image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
