Housing starts in the US plunged 30.2% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 0.891 million in April of 2020, below market forecasts of 0.927 million. It is the lowest reading since February of 2015 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Starts for the volatile multi-family segment slumped 40.3% to 0.234 million while single-family housing which is the largest share of the housing market, went down 25.4% to 0.65 million. Declines in housing starts were seen in all regions: the South (-26% to 0.532 million), the West (-43.4% to 0.184 million), the Midwest (-14.9% to 0.131 million) and the Northeast (-42.6% to 0.044 million). Year-on-year, housing starts sank 29.7%. Figures for March were revised upwards to 1.276 million from 1.216 million.

Housing Starts in the United States averaged 1428.98 Thousand units from 1959 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 2494 Thousand units in January of 1972 and a record low of 478 Thousand units in April of 2009. This page provides the latest reported value for - United States Housing Starts - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. United States Housing Starts - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on May of 2020.

Housing Starts in the United States is expected to be 1240.00 Thousand units by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Housing Starts in the United States to stand at 1180.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United States Housing Starts is projected to trend around 1070.00 Thousand units in 2021, according to our econometric models.

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United States Housing Starts

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
891.00 1276.00 2494.00 478.00 1959 - 2020 Thousand units Monthly
Volume, SA


Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2020-04-16 12:30 PM Housing Starts Mar 1.216M 1.564M 1.3M 1.285M
2020-04-16 12:30 PM Housing Starts MoM Mar -22.3% -3.4% -19.6%
2020-05-19 12:30 PM Housing Starts MoM Apr -30.2% -18.6% -30.1%
2020-05-19 12:30 PM Housing Starts Apr 0.891M 1.276M 0.927M 0.85M
2020-06-17 12:30 PM Housing Starts May
2020-07-17 12:30 PM Housing Starts Jun 1.2M
2020-08-18 12:30 PM Housing Starts Jul
2020-09-17 12:30 PM Housing Starts Aug
Go to our Calendar for more events. Or learn more about the Calendar API for direct access.


News Stream
US Housing Starts Sink 30%
Housing starts in the US plunged 30.2% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 0.891 million in April of 2020, below market forecasts of 0.927 million. It is the lowest reading since February of 2015 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Starts for the volatile multi-family segment slumped 40.3% to 0.234 million while single-family housing which is the largest share of the housing market, went down 25.4% to 0.65 million. Declines in housing starts were seen in all regions: the South (-26% to 0.532 million), the West (-43.4% to 0.184 million), the Midwest (-14.9% to 0.131 million) and the Northeast (-42.6% to 0.044 million). Year-on-year, housing starts sank 29.7%. Figures for March were revised upwards to 1.276 million from 1.216 million.
2020-05-19
US Housing Starts Fall the Most Since 1984
Housing starts in the US plunged 22.3% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 1.216 million in March of 2020, the lowest since July of 2019 and below market expectations of 1.3 million. It was the biggest decline in housing starts since 1984 even as the impact of the coronavirus will be only fully visible in the April report. Starts for the volatile multi-family segment slumped 32.1% to 0.347 million while single-family housing which is the largest share of the housing market, went down 17.5% to 0.856 million. Declines in housing starts were seen in all regions: the South (-21.3% to 0.693 million), the West (-18.2% to 0.301 million), the Midwest (-21.5% to 0.153 million) and the Northeast (-42.5% to 0.069 million). Year-on-year, housing starts rose 1.4%.
2020-04-16
US Housing Starts Fall 1.5%
Housing starts in the US went down 1.5% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 1.599 million in February of 2020. It compares with market expectations of 1.5 million. Starts for the volatile multi-family segment slumped 17% to 0.508 million while single-family housing which is the largest share of the housing market, went up 6.7% to 1.072 million. Sales went down in the West (-18.2% to 374 thousand) and the Northeast (-41.4% to 126 thousand) but rose in the South (15.2% to 889 thousand) and the Midwest (16.7 percent to 210 thousand). Year-on-year, housing starts surged 39.2%. Data for January was revised higher to 1.624 million from an initial 1.567 million.
2020-03-18
US Housing Starts Beat Forecasts
Housing starts in the US fell 3.6 percent from a month earlier to an annualized 1.567 million units in January of 2020 but beat market forecasts of 1.425 million. Housing starts for December were revised up to 1.626 million units from 1.608 million, the highest level since December of 2006. In January, single-family housing which is the largest share of the housing market, went down 5.9 percent to 1.010 million units from 1.073 million in December which was the highest since June of 2007. On the other hand, starts for the volatile multi-family segment increased 3 percent to 0.547 million. Starts declined in the South (-5.4 percent to 0.778 million) and the Midwest (-25.9 percent to 0.18 million) but rose in the West (1.2 percent to 0.431 million) and the Northeast (31.9 percent to 0.178 million). Meanwhile, building permits jumped 9.2% to 1.551 million, well above expectations of 1.450 million and the highest level since March 2007.
2020-02-19

United States Housing Starts
Housing Starts refer to the number of new residential construction projects that have begun during any particular month. Estimates of housing starts include units in structures being totally rebuilt on an existing foundation.