New-Home Construction Activity Improves in March

New-home construction activity rebounded in March, with both single-family and multifamily starts trending upward. According to U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by the National Association of Home Builders, overall housing starts increased by 10.8% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.5 million housing units.

Starts rebounded in both the single-family and multifamily sector in March

Single-family starts alone increased 9.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million units and are up 8.9% compared with March 2025. However, on a year-to-date basis, single-family starts are still down 5.5%.

Meanwhile, multifamily starts grew 13.3% to an annualized 470,000-unit pace and are up 15.5% compared with March 2025.

The Northeast and Midwest saw the most starts

For the past several months, the Northeast and Midwest have seen minimal construction activity, but housing starts picked up in those regions in March. On a year-to-date basis, single-family and multifamily starts were 36% higher in the Northeast and 7.8% higher in the Midwest. In the South, starts were just 3% higher, and in the West, they fell by 15.5%.

While starts improved, completions fell in March

As starts rose in March, completions of single-family homes have slowed down to an annual rate of about 896,000 units, marking a 14.5% decrease from a year earlier. Multifamily completions for buildings with five or more units followed the same trend, down 9.1% year-over-year to a 452,000-unit pace. On a year-to-date basis, total completions across both sectors are down by 13.5%.