{"id":523,"date":"2026-06-20T10:03:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T10:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=523"},"modified":"2026-06-20T10:03:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T10:03:58","slug":"housing-starts-sink-to-pandemic-levels-as-builders-worry-about-inflation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=523","title":{"rendered":"Housing starts sink to pandemic levels as builders worry about inflation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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May housing starts fell to the lowest level since the pandemic disrupted construction six years ago, the U.S. Census Bureau <\/span>announced<\/span> Tuesday. Builder confidence has <\/span>dropped<\/span> recently because of higher material and financing costs.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The change threatens to exacerbate housing shortages and disrupt recent <\/span>progress<\/span> in most states toward building enough new housing for new residents.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Starts were down to an annual rate of 1.17 million, the lowest since April 2020, and an 8.5% drop since May 2025. The drop since last year was especially severe in the South, down 15%, and the West, down 11%, but the Northeast saw a 19% increase and the Midwest increased 6%.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The annual completion rate was down 14.2% from May 2025 at about 1.3 million units, the lowest since January 2022.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Gov. Josh Stein signs executive order to tackle housing affordability<\/p><\/blockquote>\n