U.S. Housing Starts Advance in December to a Five-Month High
Summary
- Housing starts +6.2% (-7.3% y/y) to 1.404 mil. in Dec.; third m/m gain in four months.
- Single-family starts up to a 10-month high; multi-family starts up to a three-month high.
- Housing starts m/m up in the West, Northeast, and Midwest, but down in the South.
- Building permits recover to a nine-month high, led by a rebound in multi-family permits.
Total housing starts rose 6.2% m/m in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.404 million units—above expectations—following a 3.9% increase to 1.322 million in November and an upwardly revised 4.2% decline to 1.272 million in October (-4.6% m/m, 1.246 mil. previously), data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed. The Action Economics Forecast Survey had expected 1.320 million starts for December. The latest figure marked the third m/m rise in four months and the highest level since July. The year-on-year rate was at -7.3% in December, the steepest y/y drop since November 2024, following +2.1% in November and -0.5% in December 2024. Overall, starts remained 22.9% below the April 2022 peak of 1.820 million. For all of 2025, housing starts declined 0.9% after decreases of 3.5% in 2024 and 8.4% in 2023.
Single-family starts, up for the third straight month, increased 4.1% (-9.0% y/y) to 981,000 in December, the highest level since February 2025, after rises of 5.4% to 942,000 in November and 6.9% to 894,000 in October (874,000 previously). They reached a high of 1.218 million in November 2021 and a peak of 1.273 million in December 2020. Multi-family starts jumped 11.3% (-3.0% y/y) to 423,000, the third m/m gain in four months and the highest level since September, following a 0.5% November increase to 380,000 and a 23.2% October plunge to 378,000 (372,000 previously). They reached a peak of 629,000 units in November 2022 and a high of 616,000 units in April 2022.
By region, December housing starts mostly increased m/m. Starts in the West surged 37.4% (19.7% y/y) to 334,000 in December after a 5.8% decrease in November, registering the largest m/m gain since January 2025 and the highest level since February 2025. Starts in the Northeast rose 5.6% (2.7% y/y) to 152,000 after holding at 144,000 in November and October. Starts in the Midwest grew 2.3% (-13.2% y/y) to 177,000 following a 14.8% November slump. To the downside, starts in the South fell 2.8% (-16.1% y/y) to 741,000 in December, the first m/m fall since September, after a 14.2% advance in November. Despite the m/m pullback, the South continued to lead all regions, accounting for 52.8% of total U.S. housing starts; the region previously peaked at 1.044 million in April 2022.
Building permits recovered 4.3% (-2.2% y/y) to 1.448 million in December, the highest level since March 2025, after declines of 1.6% to 1.388 million in November and 0.3% to 1.411 million in October. They remained well below a high of 1.920 million in January 2022 and a high of 1.855 million in January 2021. Single-family permits slid 1.7% (-10.9% y/y) to 881,000 following a 2.1% November rebound to 896,000. They reached highs of 1.243 million in both January 2022 and January 2021. Multi-family permits jumped 15.2% (15.5% y/y) to 567,000, the highest level since August 2023, after a 7.7% November decline to 492,000. They reached a peak of 817,000 units in February 2023 and a high of 787,000 units in June 2022. Regionally, permits rebounded m/m in the Northeast (+44.4%; +17.4% y/y), West (+8.0%; +13.5% y/y), and Midwest (+6.6%; -5.0% y/y), but fell m/m in the South (-4.1%; -10.9% y/y).
The housing starts and building permits figures can be found in Haver’s USECON database. The expectations figure is contained in the AS1REPNA database.
Winnie Tapasanun
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Winnie Tapasanun has been working for Haver Analytics since 2013. She has 20+ years of working in the financial services industry. As Vice President and Economic Analyst at Globicus International, Inc., a New York-based company specializing in macroeconomics and financial markets, Winnie oversaw the company’s business operations, managed financial and economic data, and wrote daily reports on macroeconomics and financial markets. Prior to working at Globicus, she was Investment Promotion Officer at the New York Office of the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) where she wrote monthly reports on the U.S. economic outlook, wrote reports on the outlook of key U.S. industries, and assisted investors on doing business and investment in Thailand. Prior to joining the BOI, she was Adjunct Professor teaching International Political Economy/International Relations at the City College of New York. Prior to her teaching experience at the CCNY, Winnie successfully completed internships at the United Nations. Winnie holds an MA Degree from Long Island University, New York. She also did graduate studies at Columbia University in the City of New York and doctoral requirements at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her areas of specialization are international political economy, macroeconomics, financial markets, political economy, international relations, and business development/business strategy. Her regional specialization includes, but not limited to, Southeast Asia and East Asia. Winnie is bilingual in English and Thai with competency in French. She loves to travel (~30 countries) to better understand each country’s unique economy, fascinating culture and people as well as the global economy as a whole.
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