U.S. Housing Starts and Permits (September 2026)

Homebuilding activity moderated further in September

• Housing starts fell 5.2% month-on-month (m/m) in September to 1.22 million (annualized) units, below consensus expectations for 1.30 million units.
• September's decline was driven by contractions in both single-family (-4.6% m/m) and multi-family starts (-6.7% m/m).
• Residential permits fell 0.2% m/m to 1.40 million annualized units in September. A 4.0% decline in single-family permits was partially offset by a 6.1% increase in multi-family permits.
• Housing starts were mixed across the four census regions. This included sizeable declines in the West (-23.2%) and Midwest (-19.0%) but gains in the South (+6.1%) and no change in the Northeast.
  
   
   

Key Implications

• Homebuilding activity rounded out the third quarter with a third successive month of declines. Single-family starts fell to their lowest level in a year, while multi-family starts, instead of recovering from the 21.5% decline in August, fell further. Permitting data suggests multi-family starts may see a modest recovery over the near-term, but the sustained decline in permitting in the larger single-family segment suggests pressures on aggregate homebuilding activity will be sustained.
• Higher financing costs are increasingly weighing on demand for housing, with the national average for the 30-year fixed rate near 7.5%. Reflecting these pressures, the National Association of Home Builders sentiment index fell to its lowest level since June 2012 in October. In addition to demand headwinds, builders also continued to cite the negative influence of higher construction costs and labor supply challenges. We expect these pressures to keep homebuilding activity subdued into the first half of 2027.
  
   
   

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