U.S. housing starts fell 5.2% in September 2026 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,221,000, the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Tuesday, Oct. 20. The September 2026 housing starts figure was 7.4% below the September 2025 pace, and it arrived with the average 30-year mortgage rate at 7.4%.
Single-family starts, the largest part of the market, dropped 4.6% to an 859,000 annual rate from a revised 900,000 in August, according to the report. Starts of units in buildings with five or more units ran at a 349,000 rate. The Census Bureau flagged both the monthly and the year-over-year changes in total starts as not statistically significant, meaning the agency cannot rule out that the actual change was zero.
Building permits, which signal construction in the months ahead, came in at a 1,400,000 annual rate. That was 0.2% below the revised August rate of 1,403,000 and 3.0% below September 2025. Single-family permits fell 4.0% to 845,000, while permits for buildings with five or more units stood at 503,000.
Housing completions rose 2.2% from August to a 1,192,000 rate but remained 14.0% below the September 2025 rate of 1,386,000. Single-family completions slipped 2.4% to 840,000.
The report lands in a period of elevated borrowing costs. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week of Oct. 15 put the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 7.40%, unchanged from the prior week and up from 6.27% a year earlier. The 15-year fixed rate averaged 6.71%.
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point on Sept. 16 to a range of 3.75% to 4%, saying in its statement that “inflation remains elevated.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Oct. 14 that the consumer price index rose 3.7% over the 12 months ending in September, with the core index, which excludes food and energy, up 2.6%. The next Fed meeting is scheduled for Oct. 27–28, according to the Federal Reserve’s calendar.
The full report, “Monthly New Residential Construction, September 2026,” is available from the Census Bureau.