Persistently high mortgage rates, elevated costs for builders, and ongoing supply-side constraints continued to weigh on single-family construction in 2025. According to the NAHB analysis of the 2025 Survey of Construction (SOC), a total of 939,182 new single-family units started construction nationwide. This represents a 6.9% decline compared to 2024.

Among the nine Census divisions, the South Atlantic division continued to lead the nation with 308,189 starts in 2025, representing about one-third of all new single-family starts. The second highest was the West South Central division at 171,247 starts, followed by the Mountain division with 106,549 starts and the Pacific division with 95,940 starts. Collectively, the South Atlantic, West South Central, and Mountain divisions accounted for roughly 62% of total new single-family housing starts in 2025.

The East North Central division recorded 87,589 new single-family starts in 2025, followed by the East South Central division with 62,674 starts and the West North Central division with 44,996 starts. The Middle Atlantic division posted 42,328 starts, while New England remained the smallest division by volume, with 19,670 new single-family starts.

Regional performance varied considerably in 2025. Only three of the nine Census divisions posted year-over-year growth in single-family starts. The East South Central division recorded the strongest annual gain, rising 13.7%, followed by the East North Central division at 8.0% and the Middle Atlantic division at 4.0%.

In contrast, the remaining six divisions experienced declines. New England recorded the steepest drop, with starts falling 26.3% from the previous year. The Mountain and South Atlantic divisions, both of which posted gains in 2024, reversed course in 2025, declining 15.4% and 10.5%, respectively. Single-family starts also decreased 8.8% in the West South Central division, 7.5% in the West North Central division, and 3.3% in the Pacific division.

Overall, the 2025 SOC data points to a more uneven regional housing market than in 2024. While parts of the Midwest and the Middle Atlantic region continued to expand, declines in the nation’s largest home building regions, particularly the South Atlantic, Mountain, and West South Central divisions, more than offset those gains, driving the national decline in single-family housing starts.