Privately owned housing starts for all property types in October 2025 declined to their lowest level in nearly six years, according to a Jan. 9 report from the Census Bureau.

The report shows starts at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.24 million—a 4.6 percent decrease from the revised September estimate of 1.31 million. October starts represent a 7.8 percent decrease from October 2024, when starts were 1.35 million, and mark the lowest level since July 2020, when housing starts stood at 1.26 million.

By contrast, on an annual basis, total housing starts across all types reached 1.38 million units in 2020 and climbed to more than 1.6 million units in 2021, reflecting the post-pandemic construction surge.

Historically, starts have reached more than one million annually since 2014, but fell to just 550,000 in 2009.

The highest number recorded after 2000 was in 2005, when housing starts grew just more than two million.

For single-family homes, October construction starts stood at 874,000, which is 5.4 percent higher than the revised September figure of 829,000. For multi-family buildings with five or more units, the October starts recorded 347,000.

A review of building permits for all housing types in October indicates there were 1.412 million issued for privately owned housing units. That number represents only a slight drop of 0.2 percent from the revised September rate of 1.415 permits, but a 1.1 percent decrease from the October 2024 rate of 1.428 permits.

Permits for single-family dwellings were 876,000 in October—a 0.5 percent drop from September’s revised figure of 880,000. For buildings with five or more units, there were 481,000 permits issued in October.

October did experience some good news for housing completions. Privately owned properties for all housing types grew by 1.1 percent to 1.37 million, rising above the revised September estimate of 1.32 million.

The October 2025 numbers still represented a 15.3 percent drop from the October 2024 rate of 1.63  million.

October also saw the completion of just more than 1 million single-family homes, a 6 percent increase over the revised September rate of 952,000. The completion rate for buildings with five or more units came in at 367,000 for October.

According to an October 2025 blog post from Wealth Enhancement, a national financial advisory company, the South and the West were the top states for new construction in 2025. Using data supplied by the Census Bureau, Texas ranked first, followed by Florida, California, North Carolina, and Georgia.

Rounding out the top 10 states for new construction last year were Arizona, South Carolina, New York, Tennessee, and Washington.

“A simple explanation for some of these states being ranked so highly is that they have large populations. California, Texas, Florida, and New York are the four highest populated states,” the report stated.

It also noted that certain states have more land availability, faster permitting, and tend to offer more affordable housing options. Southern states may also have the advantage of year-round construction, as other regions of the country can be affected by harsh winters.

Regional job markets, wages, and industries also can affect the rate of new housing construction.