Economic Impact Group, LLC Economic Data Brief
 
Housing

New Residential Construction — September 2026

Released October 20, 2026 · Census Bureau / HUD · full release · charts & history on EconomicsGuru
Housing starts fell by 67,000 in September 2026 to 1,221, −98,000 from a year ago. Prior month: 1,288. Prior periods were revised in 13 series — figures below reflect that.
Starts
1,221
▼ −67,000 m/m
· −98,000 y/y
1-family starts
859
▼ −41,000 m/m
· +22,000 y/y
Permits
1,400
▼ −3,000 m/m
· −44,000 y/y
Completions
1,192
▲ +26,000 m/m
· −194,000 y/y

Revision check

REVISIONS DETECTED (13) — since last report. Every change below is calculated on the revised figures.
Multifamily starts (5+ units) · August 2026344→376▲ +32,000
Multifamily starts (5+ units) · July 2026444→484▲ +40,000
Housing starts · July 20261,309→1,369▲ +60,000
Completions · August 20261,128→1,166▲ +38,000
Single-family starts · July 2026853→875▲ +22,000
Single-family starts · August 2026918→900▼ −18,000
30-year fixed mortgage rate · September 20266.7%→6.9%▲ +0.1 pp
Multifamily permits (5+ units) · August 2026467→475▲ +8,000
Housing starts · August 20261,275→1,288▲ +13,000
Units under construction · August 20261,271→1,280▲ +9,000
Building permits · August 20261,394→1,403▲ +9,000
Completions · July 20261,280→1,283▲ +3,000
Single-family permits · August 2026878→880▲ +2,000

Key figures

Headline →September 2026August 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %12-period trend
Housing startsREVISED
SAAR, thousands of units
1,2211,288▼ −67,000▼ −5.2%▼ −98,000▼ −7.4%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Building permitsREVISED1,4001,403▼ −3,000▼ −0.2%▼ −44,000▼ −3.0%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CompletionsREVISED1,1921,166▲ +26,000▲ +2.2%▼ −194,000▼ −14.0%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trend bars show the level over the last 13 periods; the latest period is highlighted.
By structure type →September 2026August 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %12-period trend
Single-family startsREVISED859900▼ −41,000▼ −4.6%▲ +22,000▲ +2.6%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Multifamily starts (5+ units)REVISED349376▼ −27,000▼ −7.2%▼ −122,000▼ −25.9%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Single-family permitsREVISED845880▼ −35,000▼ −4.0%▼ −43,000▼ −4.8%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Multifamily permits (5+ units)REVISED503475▲ +28,000▲ +5.9%▲ +5,000▲ +1.0%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trend bars show the level over the last 13 periods; the latest period is highlighted.

What stood out

  • Single-family permits: lowest since March 2023 (42 months).
  • Multifamily starts (5+ units): −122,000 over the past year — the steepest 12-month decline since June 2024.
  • Single-family starts: lowest since September 2025 (12 months).
  • 30-year fixed mortgage rate: highest since January 2025 (20 months).
  • Housing starts: 3 straight months of decline.

Full detail

Show every category and subcategory
Full detail — pipeline →September 2026August 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %
Units under constructionREVISED1,2801,280▪ 0▪ 0.0%▼ −43,000▼ −3.3%
30-year fixed mortgage rateREVISED
Freddie Mac weekly average, monthly mean
6.9%6.7%▲ +0.2 pp—▲ +0.5 pp—

Sources

Economic Impact Group, LLC
Economic research for developing communities
Prepared 2026-10-20 13:22 UTC. Green marks an increase, red a decrease — direction only, not good or bad.