Construction activity on new single-family homes retreated in May alongside permits and completions in the face of economic uncertainty, high borrowing costs, and material rates, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday.
Single-family housing starts last month were a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 882,000, down 1.9% from April.
Total housing starts in May also experienced a significant pullback, plunging 15.4% month over month and 8.7% year over year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million units.
Municipalities across the U.S. issued 1.413 million permits for the construction of private housing in May, 0.7% below April’s rate of 1.42 million and 0.2% below May 2025’s 1.416 million.
Single-family completions last month dipped 1.6% below April’s revised rate of 886,000 units, while total housing completions dropped 8.1% from April.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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Snejana Farberov is a reporter at Realtor.com covering the U.S. housing market and the latest domestic real estate trends. She has worked as a general assignment journalist in New York City and Long Island for 16 years, writing for New York Post, Daily Mail, and News 12. Snejana earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Italian from St. John’s University, followed by a master’s degree from Columbia University School of Journalism.
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