Surge in Apartment Starts Offsets April Decline in Single-Family

A surge in new U.S. multifamily construction and permitting helped to offset a sharp decline in single-family starts in April, according to Census Bureau data. The overall monthly decline of 2.8% was shallower than projected, although single-family starts were down 9.0% from March and 2.4% year-over-year, even as starts overall rose 4.6% from the April 2025 rate of 1.400 million.

Conversely, the multifamily sector, including apartment buildings and condominiums, increased 10.3% to an annualized pace of 535,000 units from March. Multifamily starts are up 19.7% compared to April 2025. Permitting for multifamily projects was up 9.2% Y-O-Y, compared to a 5.5% annual decline for single-family.

“The decline in housing starts highlights growing pressure from tighter financial conditions and rising construction costs,” said Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington, assistant VP for forecasting and analysis at the National Association of Home Builders. “Recent increases in the 10-year Treasury yield have driven mortgage rates higher, further reducing affordability and weakening demand for new homes. As a result, home building is likely to remain under pressure in the coming months, especially as higher diesel and gas prices continue to raise construction costs.”

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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