The U.S. Census Bureau released its monthly new residential construction report for January on March 12, with the figures suggesting continued homebuilding momentum in early 2026.

Housing Starts

Privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.487 million — 7.2% above December’s downwardly revised estimate and well above economists’ forecasts of 1.35 million. Year-over-year, starts were up 9.5%.

It marked the third straight monthly increase, lifting starts to their highest mark since February 2025.

• January’s single-family housing starts were at a rate of 935,000 — 2.8% below December’s downwardly revised mark of 962,000 (from 981,000) and nd down 6.5% year-over-year
• More volatile multifamily housing starts were at a rate of 524,000 and jumped 29.1% month-to-month and 56.9% year-over-year

Housing Building Permits

January’s privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits were at a seasonally-adjusted rate of 1.376 million — down 5.4% from December’s downwardly revised rate (from 1.448M) and down 5.8% year-over-year. 

• Single-family authorizations were at a rate of 873,000 — down 0.9% from December and down 11.6% year-over-year
• Multifamily authorizations were at a rate of 453,000 — down 13.4% from December and up 8.9% year-over-year

Housing Completions

January’s privately-owned housing completions were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.527 million — up 4.8% above December’s downwardly revised total and down 7.5% year-over-year. 

• Single-family completions were at a rate of 970,000 — down 1.0% from December’s downwardly revised rate of 970,000 (from 1.023M)
• Multifamily completions were at a rate of 532,000 — up 16.2% from December’s downwardly revised total and down 15.6% year-over-year