Housing starts dropped 9.8% in January, with single-family starts falling 8.4%

Plus: KFC to leave Kentucky for Texas

February 20, 2025

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1. Homebuilder confidence drops to five-month low

Homebuilder confidence in the market for new single-family homes dropped five points to 42 in February, reaching its lowest level in five months, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). This decline can be attributed to concerns over tariffs, mortgage rates, and high housing costs, which have weakened builder sentiment.

“Uncertainty on the tariff front helped push builders’ expectations for future sales volume down to the lowest level since December 2023. Incentive use may also be weakening as a sales strategy as elevated interest rates reduce the pool of eligible home buyers.”

NAHB Chairman Carl Harris

2. Housing starts dropped 9.8% in January, with single-family starts falling 8.4%

According to data released Wednesday by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), multifamily housing starts fell 9.8% month-over-month, reaching a seasonally adjusted rate of 1,366,000 and down 0.7% year-over-year.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

  • Single-family housing starts fell 8.4% month-over-month bringing the seasonally adjusted rate to 993,000.

  • Multifamily permits reached an annual rate of 1,483,000 in January, up just 0.1 percent from December but down 1.7 percent from the previous year.

3. Catch up quick

🍗 Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is moving its corporate headquarters from Louisville, Kentucky, to Plano, Texas. (BBC)

💸 KW founder Gary Keller says agents must accept "easy deals" are dead. (Inman)

⚖️ Alexander brothers face more lawsuits accusing them of sexual assault. (People)

💰 DOGE claims to have 'recovered' $1.9B in 'misplaced' HUD funds. (DOGE)

🏠 Report: Texas has the 2nd least competitive housing market in 2025. (CitizenTribune)

🤔 Other read: Your recent mortgage statement holds the secret to a big tax bonus this year. (Realtor.com)

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4. Trump administration gets sued over DEI orders

On Wednesday, the National Urban League, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, and the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in response to its Executive Orders targeting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The orders called for an end to all federal DEI initiatives and directed agencies to lay off staff working on such efforts.

The lawsuit claims that cutting federal funding for DEI programs—such as those under the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)—will harm their ability to fight for civil rights.

The lawsuit names Trump and more than a dozen key members of his administration, including Scott Turner, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, as defendants.

5. Zillow claims off-MLS home sellers left more than $1 billion on the table the past two years

New Zillow research reveals a significant financial impact on home sellers who did not list their properties on the MLS. Over the past two years, sellers who transacted off the MLS collectively left more than $1 billion on the table.

The study examined home sales from 2023 and 2024, finding that homes sold off the MLS typically sold for $4,975 less than those listed on the MLS, a median loss of 1.5% nationwide.

The negative financial impact of off-MLS sales was widespread, affecting sellers in 44 out of the 46 states included in the study. Notably, sellers in 33 states experienced median losses exceeding 1%, and 10 states saw losses greater than 2%.

6. Austin, Dallas are appropriately supplied markets for lot/land

A new analysis by Zonda finds that homebuilder lot supply loosened in 14 of the 30 major metro area housing markets over the past year. However, Texas had two, Austin and Dallas, of the three “appropriately supplied” housing markets for lot/land.

Source: Zonda

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