Housing Starts Down 2.8% in April

April Housing Data Shows Mixed Signals for New Construction

The U.S. government is reporting that privately‐owned housing starts in April, 2026 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,465,000, which is 2.8% lower than March's revised number and is 4.6% higher than one year ago. April's rate for buildings with five units or more was 529k. Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,442,000, which is 5.8% higher than March's revised number and is 0.2% lower than one year ago. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 514k in April.