U.S. housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,221,000 in September, 5.2% below August and 7.4% below a year earlier, and nearly all of the yearly drop came from apartments. The Census Bureau and HUD released the figures Oct. 20.
Starts in buildings with five or more units ran at 349,000, down 7.2% from August and 25.9% from September 2025. Single-family starts came in at 859,000. That’s 4.6% below August but 2.6% above a year ago.
One caution: Census puts the 90% confidence interval on the monthly change at plus or minus 11.8%, so the August-to-September move isn’t statistically significant by itself. The year-over-year apartment decline is the sturdier signal.
Regional housing starts split the South from everyone else
The South was the only region to grow. Starts there ran at 714,000, up 6.1% on the month and 11% from a year earlier, which puts the region at nearly 59% of the national total. The Northeast fell 30.9% year over year to 114,000. The West dropped 25.4% to 235,000, and the Midwest slid 19.4% to 158,000.
Year to date, the picture is flatter than the headline. Unadjusted starts through September total 1,036,500, 1.1% behind the same stretch of 2025. Single-family is down 4% for the year, while five-plus starts are up 6.9%, which shows how front-loaded this year’s multifamily activity was. March ran at 1,522,000 and June at 1,439,000. September is the weakest month since May’s 1,182,000.
Permits and the housing construction backlog
Building permits held at a 1,400,000 rate, down 0.2% from August and 3% from a year ago. Single-family permits fell 4% on the month to 845,000, a softer leading indicator than the starts figure. Five-plus permits rose 5.9% to 503,000.
The backlog is creeping up. Units authorized but not started reached 279,000, up 9.8% from a year earlier, and the five-plus share rose 13.9% to 123,000. Units under construction fell 3.3% to 1,280,000. Completions dropped 14% year over year to a 1,192,000 rate.
What the September starts data means for residential contractors
Fewer completions and fewer apartment starts mean thinner pipelines for framers, drywall crews and MEP subs heading into winter. The rising count of permitted-but-unstarted units suggests owners are holding projects rather than killing them, which fits a market waiting on rates and pricing. Builders said as much this month when NAHB’s confidence index fell to 29, the lowest since 2012.
The October report is due Nov. 18. Watch whether five-plus permits keep outrunning starts. Those 123,000 apartment units sitting on approved permits will decide a lot of 2027 multifamily volume.