2025.09.1712:38:11UTC+00US Housing Starts Slump in August

In August 2025, U.S. housing starts experienced a significant decline, dropping by 8.5% from the previous month to reach a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.307 million units. This represented a decrease from a slightly revised figure of 1.429 million in July, and it fell short of market expectations, which were set at 1.37 million. This reading marked the fourth-lowest level since May 2020, reflecting ongoing challenges in the housing sector. The market is grappling with a surplus of unsold new homes and a weakening labor market, which have overshadowed the positive effects of declining mortgage rates. In detail, single-family housing starts, the predominant category in home construction, decreased by 7.0% to 890,000 units, marking their lowest point since July 2024. Meanwhile, multi-family starts, encompassing projects with five or more units, plummeted 11.0% to 403,000, reaching a three-month low. On a regional basis, there was a marked decline in activity in the South, which fell by 21.0% to 667,000 units, and in the Midwest, which saw a 10.9% decrease to 220,000 units. Conversely, there were rebounds in the West, with a 30.4% increase to 313,000 units, and the Northeast, which rose by 9.2% to 107,000 units.