Housing Starts Increased to 1.502 million Annual Rate in March

The Census Bureau is now mostly caught up on housing starts. They released Start data for February and March today, and April starts will be released on May 21st (just a little later in the month than usual).

From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions

Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,502,000. This is 10.8 percent above the revised February estimate of 1,356,000 and is 10.8 percent above the March 2025 rate of 1,355,000. Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 1,032,000; this is 9.7 percent above the revised February figure of 941,000. The March rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 446,000.

Privately-owned housing starts in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,356,000. This is 3.0 percent below the revised January estimate of 1,398,000.

Building Permits:
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,372,000. This is 10.8 percent below the revised February rate of 1,538,000 and is 7.4 percent below the March 2025 rate of 1,481,000. Single-family authorizations in March were at a rate of 895,000; this is 3.8 percent below the revised February figure of 930,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 427,000 in March.

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,538,000. This is 11.0 percent above the revised January rate of 1,386,000.
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 March. Multi-family starts were up 15% year-over-year in March. Single-family starts (red) increased in March and were up 9% year-over-year.

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

Total housing starts in March were above expectations, however starts in February were weak, and starts for December 2025 and January were revised down significantly.

The third graph shows the month-to-month comparison for total starts between 2025 (blue) and 2026 (red).

Total starts were up 10.8% in March compared to March 2025.

Housing Units Under Construction Remains Slightly Elevated

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

The following content is for paid subscribers only. Thanks to all paid subscribers!