U.S. Housing Starts Fall 5.9% in September as Permits Stay Flat

U.S. housing starts fell 5.9% in September, showing a decline in new construction ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Oct. 27-28 meeting, while building permits were relatively flat from August.

Housing starts measure when construction begins on single-family and multifamily homes. The decline in starts contrasted with little movement in permits, another figure in the monthly housing report.

An earlier report on August housing starts put the seasonally adjusted annual rate at 1.275 million, down 2.6% from July and 1.2% from August 2025. That was the estimate available before the September release.

The Fed is scheduled to meet Oct. 27-28.