2023 New Single-Family Starts by Census Division
Since 2012, new single-family housing starts have shown an upward trend, peaking at 1,133,145 units in 2021 following the pandemic. However, housing market activity has been tempered in 2022 and 2023 due to elevated home prices and consistently high mortgage rates. According to the NAHB analysis of the 2023 Survey of Construction (SOC), new single-family starts declined for the second consecutive year. Nationally, 946,536 new single-family units began construction in 2023, reflecting a 7% drop from 2022 and marking the lowest annual count since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the NAHB, among all nine Census divisions, the South Atlantic, West South Central, and Mountain Divisions led the way with the most new single-family units started in 2023. These three divisions represent 20 states and Washington, D.C., approximately 41% of the United States, but account for more than two-thirds of the total new single-family housing starts.In addition, there were 93,831 new single-family units started in the Pacific Division (10% of total starts) and 75,690 in the East North Central Division (8%) in 2023. The other four divisions, including East South Central, West North Central, Middle Atlantic, and New England, accounted for the remaining 17% of the total new single-family housing starts.
