Briefing.com: Housing Starts

Updated: 29-Apr-26 09:37 ET

March Housing Starts

Updated: 29-Apr-26 09:37 ET

Highlights

Housing starts increased 10.8% month-over-month in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.502 million units.
Building permits, meanwhile, declined 10.8% month-over-month in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.372 million units.

Key Factors

The change in single-unit starts by region: Northeast (+11.1%); Midwest (+1.3%); South (+8.5%); and West (+18.1%).
The change in single-unit permits by region: Northeast (+8.0%); Midwest (-2.3%); South (-4.5%); and West (-5.5%).
Multi-unit starts increased 13.3% month-over-month, while multi-unit permits decreased 21.6%.
The number of units under construction at the end of the period was flat month-over-month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.264 million, but single-unit dwellings under construction rose 1.6% to 587,000.

Big Picture

The key takeaway from the report is that there was broad-based strength in starts by region but also broad-based weakness in permits by region. The latter is the better indicator for the impact of the Iran war and the uncertainty it has created because permits are a leading indicator.