Single-Family Starts Fall in April

Ongoing concerns around high mortgage rates and tariffs driving up building costs have put a damper on new-home construction. According to the National Association of Home Builders’ Eye On Housing blog, single-family housing starts decreased by 2.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 927,000 from March to April 2025. Single-family starts decreased even further on a year-over-year basis, falling by 12% from April 2024.

Still, overall housing starts managed to increase slightly, but this was primarily driven by a growth in multifamily construction. Month-over-month, total housing starts grew by 16% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.36 million units. During this same period, multifamily starts increased by 10.7% to a pace of 434,000 units.

Permits fall across the board

While starts increased in some sectors, permits for each type of housing fell in April. Overall permits decreased by 4.7% to a 1.41-million-unit annualized rate in April. Single-family permits decreased by 5.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 922,000 in April and were down by 6.2% year-over-year. Multifamily permits also fell by 3.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 490,000. However, when compared with April 2024, multifamily permits grew by 2.9%.

Where is the most housing being built?

When it comes to housing starts, the Northeast is gaining the most traction. In that region, combined single-family and multifamily starts were 19.8% higher year-to-date. The Midwest and West also saw housing starts grow by 4.4% and 3.4% year-to-date. In the South, however, starts were 7.4% lower year-to-date. 

Year-to-date, permits were also 3.8% lower in the south, but the Northeast and West also saw permits fall by a respective 20.3% and 3.5% during this period. With an increase of 5.1%, the Midwest is the only region to see housing permits grow year-to-date.

Single-family construction may be on the decline, but it hasn’t always been that way

• Single-Family Construction Sees Continued Growth: Single-family construction finished 2024 strong. In Q4 2024, the share of new single-family homes was 29.1%.
• Single-Family Permits Increased by 26% During March: In March 2024, the total number of single-family permits reached 241,311 year-to-date.