US Single-Family Homebuilding Slumps in September as Mortgage Rates Dampen Demand
US single-family housing starts and building permits fell in September as high mortgage rates cooled construction activity. Read the latest market data.
POLICY WIRE — Washington, D.C. — Construction of new single-family homes experienced a significant downturn in September, as elevated mortgage rates continued to suppress demand across the residential sector.
Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development indicates that single-family housing starts, which represent the largest share of the homebuilding market, declined by 4.6% last month. This drop brought the seasonally adjusted annual rate to 859,000 units, falling 4.8% below the revised August figure of 900,000.
Future construction activity also faced headwinds, with building permits for single-family homes sliding 4.0% to an annual rate of 845,000 units. , total privately-owned building permits decreased by 0.2% to a rate of 1.400 million in September, slightly exceeding the 1.385 million rate anticipated by analysts and following a revised August rate of 1.403 million.
The latest figures provide a sobering look at one of the economy’s most interest-rate-sensitive sectors. The monthly report tracks the construction of new privately owned homes, including housing completions, and serves as a key indicator of broader economic momentum.
This September decline marks a reversal for the industry, which had seen a brief rebound in August. Previous data from August showed total building permits at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,394,000, which was 2.7% below the revised July rate of 1,433,000 but 3.5% higher than the August 2025 rate of 1,347,000.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
