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September 17, 2026US HOUSING STARTS AND BUILDING PERMITS, AUGUST 2026 Month over month (August vs July 2026, seasonally adjusted annualized rates)
US housing starts were down 2.6% from July to August, falling to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1,275,000 units. A decline in multi-unit dwelling starts (-21.7%) more than offset an increase for single-unit starts (+7.6%).
The number of residential building permits was down 2.7% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1,394,000 units. Permits were down for both multiple units (-4.3%) and single units (-1.8%).
Year over year (August 2026 vs August 2025)
Compared to the same month last year, US housing starts were down 1.2%, with decreases in multiple unit starts (-14.6%) offsetting gains in single unit starts (+5.2%).
Residential building permits were up 3.5% year-over-year. Residential building permit increases occurred for both multi-unit structures (+7.5%) and single unit structures (+1.3%).
Year-to-date (January-August 2026 vs January-August 2025)
From January-August of 2026, US housing starts were down 1.0%. While housing starts for single units declined (-4.9%), those for multi-units increased (+8.2%).
Residential building permits were down 0.7% year-to-date, with decreases in single units (-3.4%) and increases in multi-unit structures (+4.4%).
Note: multi-unit refers to structures with 2-4 units as well as structures were more than 5 units.
Source: US Census Bureau New Residential Construction
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