United States housing completions fall in September 2026

Housing completions in the United States fell in September 2026, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The figure for the month was 98,900, compared with 104,600 in August 2026. Housing Market Group calculates from the Census Bureau figures that this is a decline of 5.4% between August and September 2026.

The September reading is the latest in a series of lower monthly figures since early summer. Completions stood at 113,200 in May 2026 and rose to 120,300 in June 2026, the highest level in the months covered here. They then eased to 112,900 in July 2026 and to 104,600 in August 2026 before the September figure. Of the months from May to September 2026, September has the lowest reading, and each month after June recorded fewer completions than the month before it.

Compared with a year earlier, the drop is larger. The Census Bureau reported 115,100 housing completions in September 2025, against 98,900 in September 2026. By Housing Market Group's calculation, that is a fall of 14.1% between September 2025 and September 2026. The year-on-year decline is therefore steeper than the month-on-month decline of 5.4% recorded between August and September 2026.

Completions count homes that have been finished, so the series reflects construction that began in earlier periods rather than activity started in the latest month. The September 2026 figure shows how much new housing reached completion during that month. On its own, it does not measure demand from buyers or renters, nor the number of new projects being started. What the Census Bureau data does show is a rise in completions from May 2026 to June 2026, followed by lower figures in July, August and September 2026.

Set against the June 2026 high of 120,300, the September 2026 total of 98,900 is noticeably lower, and it is also below the 115,100 recorded in September 2025. Taken together, the monthly and annual comparisons describe a period in which fewer homes were finished in the United States in September 2026 than in the preceding summer months or in the same month a year earlier.