Housing Starts Declined 8.5% in August

Washington, DC, September 17, 2025-- Privately-owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,307,000, 8.5% below the revised July estimate of 1,429,000 and 6.0% below the August 2024 rate of 1,391,000, according to the U.S Census Bureau. 

Single-family housing starts in August were at a rate of 890,000; this is 7.0% below the revised July figure of 957,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 403,000.

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,312,000. This is 3.7% below the revised July rate of 1,362,000 and is 11.1% below the August 2024 rate of 1,476,000. Single-family authorizations in August were at a rate of 856,000; this is 2.2% below the revised July figure of 875,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 403,000 in August.

Privately-owned housing completions in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,608,000. This is 8.4% above the revised July estimate of 1,483,000, but is 8.4% below the August 2024 rate of 1,755,000. Single-family housing completions in August were at a rate of 1,090,000; this is 6.7% above the revised July rate of 1,022,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 503,000.

Says Truist, "Housing starts came in below consensus expectations for the month of August, with single family reverting to the mean following a surprise positive result last month. We previously indicated that we did not think this was a turning point for the industry, which held true in these results, as there was no real turn in permitting. Note that single family permitting activity worsened this month with the worst y/y decline since early 2023. We do note that we continued to see a trend of notable positive revisions to prior data, which has been consistently occurring for the past year."