The Census Bureau’s report on construction spending stated that the value of multifamily residential construction put in place in fell in July from the revised level of the month before. Spending on single-family residential construction was reported to rise 0.15 percent while spending on improvements was up 0.13 percent.
The value of total private residential construction put in place in July 2025 was reported to be $886.5 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This figure, which includes spending on both new construction and improvements, was reported to be up $594 million month-over-month. In addition, the previous month’s residential construction figure was revised higher by $2.85 billion. Residential construction spending in July was reported to be down 5.4 percent year-over-year.
Multifamily construction spending revised lower
The value of new private construction of multifamily residential buildings put in place in July was reported to be $113.1 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was down $480 million (0.42 percent) from the revised (-$919 million) level for the month before. The reported value of multifamily housing construction put in place in July was down 9.4 percent year-over-year.
The first chart shows the difference between the levels of multifamily construction put in place reported for the last two months and the levels reported this month. The chart shows, not only has the residential construction data been trending lower, the revisions to the data from earlier months have all been to the downside. For example, the value of multifamily construction put in place in May was originally reported as $115.0 billion. It was revised to $114.4 billion in last month’s report and to $113.5 billion in this month’s report.
For reference, the Census Bureau’s New Residential Construction report said the number of unit completions in buildings with 5 or more units fell in July from the revised level of the month before. July completions were down 2.8 percent for the month. Completions were down 29 percent from their year-earlier level.
The value of new single-family residential construction put in place in July was $419.1 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was up $619 million from the revised (+$5.57 billion) level for June but was down 2.1 percent year-over-year.
Governments were reported to have put $12.2 billion in residential construction in place in July on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis.
The value of improvements to residential buildings put in place in July was reported to be $354.3 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was up $455 million from the revised (-$1.80 billion) level for June but was down $29.2 billion from the year-earlier level. The Census Bureau does not separate out improvements for single-family and multifamily residential buildings.
Viewing long-term trends
The following chart shows the value of residential construction put in place each month since January 2017. It also shows the trend lines for single-family and multifamily residential construction based on growth in construction spending during the period from January 2012 to July 2018.
The chart shows that the value of multifamily residential construction put in place is well below the level it reached in the post-pandemic surge. It is also well below the level of its earlier trend line.
Despite the positive figures reported this month, the value of single-family construction put in place is well off its earlier growth trend.
The value of improvements put in place is elevated compared to its pre-pandemic level but it is below its level in 2024.
The report from the Census Bureau also includes information on spending on other types of construction projects. The full current report can be found here.
