U.S. housing starts fell by 2.8% month over month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.465 million in April, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday.
That’s higher than the 1.410 million consensus. March’s numbers were revised to 1.507 million from the initial reading of 1.502 million, the bureau noted.
According to the Census Bureau, the rate of privately owned housing starts rose 4.6% from the April 2025 rate of 1.4 million. Single-family housing starts came in at 930,000, down 9% from the revised March figure of 1.022 million, the Bureau said.
Building permits rose 5.8% month over month to an annual rate of 1.442 million, versus the consensus of 1.38 million and the prior reading of 1.363 million (unrevised). The latest data was 0.2% below the April 2025 rate of 1.445 million, and single-family authorizations in April came in at a rate of 872,000, roughly 2.6% below the prior month’s revised figure of 895,000.
Privately owned housing completions during the month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.449 million, which is up 4.8% from March and 2% lower than the April 2025 rate.
Single-family housing completions came in at a rate of 903,000, a 1% decline from March, the Census Bureau noted.
Numbers Show Caution
First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi said the figures indicate some caution.
“April’s housing starts report signals builder resilience and caution, not retreat. Builders still haven’t stopped building, but they’re clearly building with one foot on the brake,” Kushi said. “Builders are adjusting to market signals and building more cautiously in the face of affordability pressures and economic uncertainty.”
Kushi added: “The broader story is that America’s housing shortage hasn’t gone away, and now new supply is already slowing again before the market has fully caught up with years of underbuilding.”
Kushi noted that total housing starts have eased.
“Housing starts pulled back in April following March’s rebound, but the overall report still outpaced consensus expectations and does not suggest a sharp deterioration in construction activity. Total housing starts eased to a 1.465 million annualized pace from 1.507 million in March, while permits rose to 1.442 million, also above expectations,” Kushi said.
“Beneath the headline, however, the report continues to reflect a homebuilding market defined more by caution than confidence. The strength in permits came from the more volatile multifamily sector, while single-family permits — an important signal of future for-sale construction activity — slipped back to their lowest level since the summer of 2025, suggesting builders remain cautious and that single-family construction activity could remain subdued in the months ahead,” Kushi said. “Builder sentiment remains weak overall, even after a modest improvement in May’s NAHB Housing Market Index, as builders continue to grapple with affordability constraints, economic uncertainty, elevated financing and construction costs, and softer buyer traffic.
Kushi said that single-family permits may have flattened out.
Permits Have Flattened Out
“Still, the single-family data do not point to a market that is rolling over. Looking through monthly volatility using six-month moving averages, single-family permits appear to have largely flattened out after declining through much of last year, while the trend in single-family starts has edged modestly higher. At the same time, single-family completions — the flow of net new supply entering the market — have now declined for six consecutive months,” she said.
“That dynamic matters because it reinforces the broader structural backdrop: the U.S. housing market remains underbuilt. Even with softer demand conditions and cautious builder sentiment, the slowdown in completions means the pace of new supply entering the market is already decelerating again before the long-term housing shortage has been fully addressed,” Kushi added.
“The multifamily side of the market also appears to be shifting from correction toward a more balanced pace of activity. The number of multifamily units under construction has continued to trend lower from its 2023 peak as builders gradually work through the pipeline of apartment projects started during the post-pandemic construction boom. Meanwhile, the earlier decline in multifamily permits appears to have largely leveled off, with both permits and starts appearing more balanced on a six-month trend basis,” Kushi noted. “The broader takeaway from the April report is that residential construction remains active enough to avoid signaling outright weakness, but cautious enough to reflect ongoing affordability pressures and weak builder confidence. Builders are still building, but they are doing so carefully, selectively, and without much conviction.”
