Single-family housing production is still down by 4.7% year-to-date, but they rebounded slightly in August. Single-family starts increased by 7.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 918,000 units and were up 5.2% from August 2025, according to recent data from the National Association of Home Builders. Comparatively, the multifamily sector saw starts decrease by 21.7% to an annualized 357,000 pace and was down by 14.6% from a year earlier.

Permits declined in both the single-family and multifamily market

While permitting activity saw a slight rebound, overall permits decreased by 2.7% to a 1.39-million-unit annualized rate in August. Single-family permits decreased 1.8% to an 878,000-unit rate but were still up 1.3% compared with August 2025. Meanwhile, multifamily permits decreased 4.3% to an annualized pace of 516,000 units but were up 7.5% from the year prior.

Both housing starts and permitting activity varies from region to region

The Northeast saw the most activity in August. Regionally, on a year-to-date basis, combined single-family and multifamily starts were 10% higher in the Northeast, while in the Midwest, they were 0.4% lower year-to-date. 

Overall year-to-date permitting activity was 12.5% higher in the Northeast, 2.7% higher in the Midwest, 3.5% lower in the South, and 1.7% higher in the West.