Housing Starts Rebound Nearly 20 Percent In June But It’s All Multi-Family

Housing Starts Rebound in June

The monthly New Residential Construction report for June 2026 shows a construction rebound in multi-family following a collapse in multi-family last month.

Single-Family starts fell.

Note the margins of error on housing starts ±15.9 percent.

Housing Starts

Privately-owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,427,000.
This is 19.0 percent (±15.9 percent) above the revised May estimate of 1,199,000 and is 3.5 percent (±14.3 percent) above the June 2025 rate of 1,379,000.
Single-family housing starts in June were at a rate of 895,000; this is 0.2 percent (±10.2 percent) below the revised May figure of 897,000. The June rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 513,000.

Building Permits

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,367,000. This is 3.0 percent below the revised May rate of 1,410,000 and is 2.3 percent below the June 2025 rate of 1,399,000.
Single-family authorizations in June were at a rate of 871,000; this is 2.4 percent below the revised May figure of 892,000.
Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 445,000 in June.

Housing Completions

Housing Completions Privately-owned housing completions in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,392,000.
This is 3.3 percent (±14.1 percent) above the revised May estimate of 1,347,000 and is 1.5 percent (±17.1 percent) above the June 2025 rate of 1,372,000.
Single-family housing completions in June were at a rate of 964,000; this is 6.6 percent (±11.0 percent) above the revised May rate of 904,000. The June rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 413,000.

Single Family vs Multi-Family Details SA in Thousands

Total: 1,427
Single Family: 895
Multi-Family: 532

Housing Permits

The Covid permit rebound was sharp, in two phases, culminating at 1.923 million in January 2022.

That was followed by a slump to 1.421 million permits in November of 2022.

Since February of 2023, it’s been a slow grind lower.

Housing Completions

The wave of completions surged 1.7 million units in August of 2024.

Conventional wisdom was the surge in completions would lead to falling home prices and falling rent.

Neither happened. The remaining units under construction is in huge decline, yet still high historically.

Housing Units Under Construction

Units Under Construction Details

Total: 1,264
Multi-Family: 682
Single-Family: 582

Despite the big decline, there is still a large number of units under construction. But who can afford to buy?

On the surface, this will put price pressure on units as they complete. But many of these are pre-sold, I believe to buyers who will regret buying.

And people have been predicting a huge price collapse in homes and rents on the basis of completed supply. Neither happened despite the surge in completed homes.

Mortgage Rates