United States Housing Starts

Housing starts in the US unexpectedly plunged 11.4% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.324 million in March 2025, the lowest level in four months, and compared to forecasts of 1.42 million dragged down by weak demand and high prices and mortgage rates. It was the biggest drop in a year following a downwardly revised 9.8% surge in February. Single-family housing starts were down 14.2% to 0.94 million and the starts for multi-unit buildings, with five or more units, were unchanged at 0.37 million. Regionally, housing starts fell in the West (-30.9% to 0.289 million) and the South (-17.1% to 0.673 million) but jumped in the Midwest (76.2% to 0.222 million) and the Northeast (1.4% to 0.140 million).