by Building permits, housing starts and completions are all down from April 2024 while housing starts rise 1.6% from March
WASHINGTON — April residential housing construction activity faltered across all three major segments from April 2024 based on data released by the Department of Commerce on Friday.
Housing completions took the biggest hit, followed by building permits and housing starts, the DOC reported.
Housing completions totaled 1,458,000 in April, down 12.3% from 1,662,000 in April 2024 and down 5.9% from a revised March estimate of 1,549,000. Single-family housing completions totaled 943,000, or 64.7% of the total with buildings with five units or more representing the balance. Single-family completions were 8% below a revised March rate of 1,025,000.
Building permits totaled 1,412,000, or 3.2% below 1,459,000 in April and down 4.7% from a revised rate of 1,481,000 in March. Single-family homes represented 922,000 or 65.3% of the total while buildings with five or more units represented the balance. Single-family permits were 5.1% below the revised March rate of 972,000.
Housing starts totaled 1,361,000 in April, 1.7% below 1,385,000 in April 2024, but 1.6% above a revised March estimate of 1,339,000. Single-family homes totaled 927,000, or 68.1% of the total, while buildings with five or more units represented the balance. Single-family housing starts were 2.1% below a revised March rate of 947,000.
While a slowdown in housing completions may suggest fewer people are buying furniture for their new homes, it did not equate to a major slowdown in furniture store sales in April. According to U.S. government figures release a day earlier, April year-over-year furniture store sales were nearly 8% over April 2024.
The boost could suggest that some consumers were looking to make those purchases before final tariffs now set at 10% for most countries possibly increase and take effect between now and early July.
By region, the activity was as follows:
+ In the Northeast, there were 136,000 residential building permits issued in April, 10.5% below 152,000 in April 2024 and 14.3% above 119,000 in March. There were 158,000 units started, up 54.9% from 102,000 started in April 2024 and up 12.9% from 140,000 started in March. There were 159,000 units completed in April, up 3.2% from 154,000 completed in April 2024 and up 10.4% from 144,000 completed in March.
+ In the Midwest, there were 192,000 building permits issued in April, up 12.9% from 170,000 in April 2024 and down 8.1% from 209,000 issued in March. There were 198,000 units started, up 9.4% from 181,000 started in April 2024 and down 10.8% from 222,000 started in March. There were 185,000 units completed in April, down 15.9% from 220,000 in April 2024 and down 7% from 199,000 in March.
+ In the South, there were 754,000 building permits issued, down 9.8% from 836,000 in April 2024 and down 9.6% from 834,000 issued in March. There were 760,000 units started in April, down 7.1% from 818,000 started in April 2024 and up 10.9% from 685,000 started in March. There were 779,000 units completed in the region in April, down 16.9% from 937,000 completed in April and down 7.3% from 840,000 completed in March.
+ In the West, there were 330,000 building permits issued, up 9.6% from 301,000 issued in April 2024 and up 3.4% from 319,000 issued in March. There were 245,000 units started in April, down 13.7% from 284,000 in April 2024 and down 16.1% from 292,000 started in March. There were 335,000 completed in April, down 4.6% from 351,000 completed in April 2025 and down 8.5% from 366,000 completed in March.
