Housing starts sink to pandemic levels as builders worry about inflation
May housing starts fell to the lowest level since the pandemic disrupted construction six years ago, the U.S. Census Bureau announced Tuesday. Builder confidence has dropped recently because of higher material and financing costs.
The change threatens to exacerbate housing shortages and disrupt recent progress in most states toward building enough new housing for new residents.
Starts were down to an annual rate of 1.17 million, the lowest since April 2020, and an 8.5% drop since May 2025. The drop since last year was especially severe in the South, down 15%, and the West, down 11%, but the Northeast saw a 19% increase and the Midwest increased 6%.
The annual completion rate was down 14.2% from May 2025 at about 1.3 million units, the lowest since January 2022.
New permits were about the same at 1.4 million, with apartment units up and single-family houses down. However, new apartment permits were down 26% in the Midwest, and single-family houses were down 7% in the West.
Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at thenderson@stateline.org.
This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Kentucky Lantern, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.