Financial News: U.S. Housing Starts Pull Back Sharply In April

U.S. Housing Starts Pull Back Sharply In April But Building Permits Spike

05/21/2026 - 10:44:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - New residential construction in the U.S. pulled back sharply in April but still came in well above economist estimates, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The Commerce Department said housing starts slumped by 2.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.465 million in April after soaring by 12 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 1.507 million in March.

Economists had expected housing starts to plunge by 6.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.410 million from the 1.502 million originally reported for the previous month.

The pullback by housing starts reflected a steep drop in single-family housing starts, which plunged by 9.0 percent to an annual rate of 930,000 in April after spiking by 10.7 percent to an annual rate of 1.022 million in March.

Meanwhile, the report said multi-family housing starts surged by 10.3 percent to an annual rate of 535,000 in April after soaring by 14.7 percent to an annual rate of 485,000 in March.

"New construction of apartments and condos was strong again, surging to the highest monthly reading in 3 years," said Nationwide Senior Economist Ben Ayers.

He added, "But builders did pull back on single-family projects, expecting reduced demand from buyers amid lingering affordability concerns and renewed uncertainty for the economic outlook ahead."

The Commerce Department also said building permits spiked by 5.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.442 million in April after plummeting by 11.5 percent to a downwardly revised rate of 1.363 million in March.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to climbed by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.380 million from the 1.1372 million originally reported for the previous month.

While single-family permits tumbled by 2.6 percent to an annual rate of 872,000, multi-family permits skyrocketed by 21.8 percent to an annual rate of 570,000.

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