Single-family starts were on the decline in 2025. According to an analysis of the 2025 Survey of Construction by the National Association of Home Builders, a total of 939,182 new single-family units started construction nationwide throughout 2025, marking a decline of 6.9% compared with 2024.

Single-family starts varied across geographic regions

Among the nine Census divisions, the South Atlantic division led with 308,189 starts in 2025, which represents about one-third of all new single-family starts. The West South Central division followed with 171,247 starts, and then the Mountain division with 106,549 starts.

Only a few geographic regions saw single-family starts increase year-over-year

Only three of the nine Census divisions posted year-over-year growth in single-family starts. The East South Central division recorded the strongest annual gain, increasing 13.7%, followed by the East North Central division at 8%, and the Middle Atlantic division at 4%.

On the other hand, the remaining six divisions experienced declines. In New England, starts fell by 26.3% year-over-year. The Mountain and South Atlantic divisions, both of which posted gains in 2024, saw starts decline by a respective 15.4% and 10.5% in 2025. In the West South Central division, they declined by 8.8.%, in the West North Central division, they declined by 7.5%, and in the Pacific division, they declined by 3.3%.