Housing Starts Increased to 1.361 million Annual Rate in April

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,361,000. This is 1.6 percent above the revised March estimate of 1,339,000, but is 1.7 percent below the April 2024 rate of 1,385,000. Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 927,000; this is 2.1 percent below the revised March figure of 947,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 420,000.

Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,412,000. This is 4.7 percent below the revised March rate of 1,481,000 and is 3.2 percent below the April 2024 rate of 1,459,000. Single family authorizations in April were at a rate of 922,000; this is 5.1 percent below the revised March figure of 972,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 431,000 in April.
emphasis added

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

Multi-family starts (blue, 2+ units) increased month-over-month in April. Multi-family starts were up sharply year-over-year. Single-family starts (red) decreased in April and were down 12.0% year-over-year.

The second graph shows single and multi-family starts since 1968. This shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and then the eventual recovery.

Total housing starts in April were at expectations and starts in February and March were revised up, combined.

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

Total starts were down 1.7% in April compared to April 2024. Year-to-date (YTD) starts are down 1.6% compared to the same period in 2024. Single family starts are down 7.1% YTD and multi-family up 13.4% YTD.

Multi-Family Housing Units Under Construction Remains Elevated

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

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