{"id":27056,"date":"2026-02-09T14:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.construction.com\/?post_type=blog&p=27056"},"modified":"2026-02-10T14:10:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T19:10:06","slug":"january-update-on-census-housing-starts-and-construction-put-in-place-spending","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.construction.com\/blog\/january-update-on-census-housing-starts-and-construction-put-in-place-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"January Update on Census Housing Starts and Construction Put-in-Place Spending"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by: Eric Gaus, Dodge Chief Economist, and Sarah Martin, Associate Director of Forecasting<\/p>\n

With the U.S. Census Bureau continuing to face delays in releasing its construction spending and housing starts data due to the government shutdown, Dodge Construction Network\u2019s (Dodge) Economics team has developed independent estimates of what the Census likely would have reported in recent months. While the government has reopened, Dodge assumes the Census\u2019s data releases will remain delayed in the interim.<\/p>\n

As a trusted, long-standing industry resource, Dodge is well-positioned to provide these estimates. Dodge supplies some of the inputs used in the Census\u2019s own construction spending calculations and has collected detailed construction starts data for decades. Our data collection methodology is nearly identical to the Census for single-family homes, while our broader dataset is directly tied to individually tracked construction projects. We monitor their progress from the earliest stages of planning through shovels-in-the-ground, at which point they are officially labeled a \u201cconstruction start,\u201d a term originally coined by Dodge.<\/p>\n

While our data reporting categories usually differ from Census, these estimates follow Census\u2019 conventions to ensure consistency and clarity during this period without official federal data.<\/p>\n

Housing Starts<\/strong>
\nDodge estimates that Census privately-owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,314,000. This is 2.9 percent (\u00b110.7 percent)* below Dodge\u2019s November estimate of 1,353,000 and is 13.2 percent (\u00b19.7 percent)* below the December 2024 rate of 1,514,000.<\/p>\n

Single-family housing starts in December were at a rate of 875,000; this is 5.3 percent (\u00b18.2 percent)* below Dodge\u2019s revised November figure of 924,000. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 408,000.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Total Construction Put-in-Place Spending<\/strong>
\nDodge estimates that Census construction spending during November 2025 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,169.6 billion, 0.3 percent (\u00b10.8 percent)* below Census\u2019s preliminary October estimate of $2,175.2 billion. The November figure is 1.1 percent (\u00b11.5 percent) below Census\u2019s November 2024 estimate of $2,192.9 billion.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Dodge maintains a digitized database of historical construction starts dating back to 1967 and provides forecasts for construction starts, spending, and building stock across more than 20 construction categories. Our commercial construction starts data serves as a primary input for the U.S. Census Bureau\u2019s Construction Put-in-Place (spending) calculations.<\/p>\n

For more monthly insights on construction activity across key sectors, explore our latest industry reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":27061,"template":"","class_list":["post-27056","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJanuary Update on Census Housing Starts and Construction Put-in-Place Spending | Dodge Construction Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.construction.com\/blog\/january-update-on-census-housing-starts-and-construction-put-in-place-spending\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"January Update on Census Housing Starts and Construction Put-in-Place Spending | Dodge Construction Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Written by: 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