U.S. Housing Starts Plunge 15.4% in May to Lowest Level Since May 2020
By
CalculatedRisk by Bill McBride
If you only eat one bagel today, this is the bagel.
Summary
Housing starts in the U.S. fell sharply to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.177 million in May, down 15.4% from April and 8.7% year-over-year. This marks the lowest total starts annual rate since May 2020, at the onset of the pandemic. Single-family starts also declined 1.9% to 882,000, while multi-family units (5+ units) came in at 284,000. The data, released by the Census Bureau, signals a significant slowdown in the housing construction sector.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledPrivately-owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,177,000.
This is 15.4 percent below the revised April estimate of 1,392,000 and is 8.7 percent below the May 2025 rate of 1,289,000.
Single-family housing starts in May were at a rate of 882,000; this is 1.9 percent below the revised April figure of 899,000.
The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 284,000.
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