Single-family home completions stayed close to early-pandemic levels in September, held down by borrowing costs, energy and material prices and a shrinking pool of skilled labor, according to U.S. Census Bureau survey results released Oct. 20.
The annual rate for single-family completions fell to 840,000, the weakest reading since May 2020. Every region recorded a decline, with the Northeast off 17% and the South 15%.
Multifamily construction was uneven. Apartments nationally climbed to a 339,000 annual rate from 295,000 in August, a figure that had been the lowest since 2022. Apartment completions dropped 64% in the Northeast and 37% in the South, while the Midwest gained 53% and the West 18%.
An October National Association of Home Builders survey found more than one-third of builders saying immigration enforcement activity delayed construction and discouraged legal workers from reporting to jobsites. Bill Owens, the group's chairman, described that finding in a statement.
NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz said buyer interest has weakened as costs rise. Forty-three percent of builders lowered prices in October, the largest share in recent years, and Dietz said the market faces supply-side limits along with affordability problems.
The story was originally produced by Stateline, part of States Newsroom, the nonprofit network that includes Ohio Capital Journal.