Housing Starts Decreased to 1.246 million Annual Rate in October

Note: The Census Bureau is still catching up. They released Start data for September and October today, but we are still missing November data.

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,246,000. This is 4.6 percent below the revised September estimate of 1,306,000 and is 7.8 percent below the October 2024 rate of 1,352,000. Single-family housing starts in October were at a rate of 874,000; this is 5.4 percent above the revised September figure of 829,000. The October rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 347,000.

Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,412,000. This is 0.2 percent below the revised September rate of 1,415,000 and is 1.1 percent below the October 2024 rate of 1,428,000. Single-family authorizations in October were at a rate of 876,000; this is 0.5 percent below the revised September figure of 880,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 481,000 in October.
emphasis added

The first graph shows single and multi-family housing starts since 2000 (including housing bubble).

Multi-family starts (blue, 2+ units) decreased month-over-month in October. Multi-family starts were down 7.9% year-over-year. Single-family starts (red) increased in October and were down 7.8% year-over-year.

The second graph shows single and multi-family starts since 1968.

Total housing starts in October were well below expectations.

The third graph shows the month-to-month comparison for total starts between 2024 (blue) and 2025 (red).

Total starts were down 7.8% in October compared to October 2024.

Year-to-date (YTD) starts are down 0.7% compared to the same period in 2024. Single family starts are down 7.0% YTD and multi-family up 18.0% YTD.

Housing Units Under Construction Remains Elevated

The fourth graph shows housing starts under construction, Seasonally Adjusted (SA).

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