US Housing Market Slows as Single-Family Permits Fall in Early 2026

The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies’ 2026 State of the Nation’s Housing report describes a U.S. market marked by weak activity, declining demand and rising costs. Existing home sales remain near a 30‑year low, construction starts slipped 1 % with single‑family starts down 7 %, and median home prices exceed $400,000, five times median income. Unemployment fell sharply in 2025 and consumer confidence dropped more than 20 points, reaching record lows in April 2026. Interest rates stay above 6 %, pushing the projected monthly payment on a median‑priced home to about $3,100.

Permitting data for the first five months of 2026 shows single‑family permits nationwide at 380,130, a 6.1 % drop from the same period a year earlier, while multifamily permits rose 6.5 % to 208,192. All four regions saw declines in single‑family permits; the Northeast posted the steepest decline at 12.2 %, while the South led multifamily declines at 5.7 %. Texas led single‑family permitting with 61,157 permits despite a 7.4 % fall, and Florida and North Carolina also posted declines. Multifamily permits grew strongly in the Northeast (up 32.9 %) and the West (up 18.3 %).