Single-Family Construction Jumped 7.6% in August — But Builders Stay Cautious

America's builders broke ground on more single-family homes in August than anyone expected. Single-family housing starts jumped 7.6% from July to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 918,000 — also up 5.2% from a year earlier — according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as reported by Realtor.com this week.

The surprise was partly regional: single-family starts climbed 8.3% in the Midwest, 7.6% in the West, and 7.5% in the South, while the Northeast fell 27% year over year. Total housing starts including multifamily came in at 1.275 million annualized — down 2.6% from July and 1.2% from last August, as a weak multifamily segment dragged the headline number. Permits ran at 1.394 million, down 2.7% on the month but up 3.5% from a year ago.

Economists stayed guarded. "Year-to-date declines in single-family permits show builders remain cautious about future construction," said Jing Fu, senior director of forecasting and analysis at the National Association of Home Builders, adding that "ongoing economic uncertainty and affordability challenges will continue to slow single-family construction in the months ahead."

The read for buyers: the construction pipeline isn't collapsing, but it's not flooding the market either — especially in coastal California, where very little new supply arrives at any price point. With builders leaning on incentives and price cuts to move homes, as Realtor.com senior economist Joel Berner notes, the current window for new-construction deals may not last if starts keep slowing.

Locally, the South Bay's supply story barely budges on news like this: a brand-new 43-townhome Toll Brothers community just opened in Redondo Beach priced from $2 million, and a few dozen homes like that are all the local market gets. The national numbers explain why resale — not new construction — remains the real market here.

Source: Realtor.com — https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/housing-starts-home-construction-census-august-2026/

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