US housing starts tumbled 8.5% month-over-month in August 2025 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.307 million units, down from a slightly revised 1.429 million in July and well below market forecasts of 1.37 million. That was the fourth-lowest reading since May 2020, underscoring persistent housing market weakness as a glut of unsold new homes and a softening labor market outweighed the relief from easing mortgage rates. By category, single-family starts - the largest segment of homebuilding - dropped 7.0% to 890,000 units, their weakest level since July 2024. Multi-family starts with five or more units plunged 11.0% to 403,000, a three-month low. Regionally, activity fell sharply in the South (-21.0% to 667,000 units) and Midwest (-10.9% to 220,000), while rebounding in the West (+30.4% to 313,000) and Northeast (+9.2% to 107,000).