US construction spending falls 1.9% in September 2026

US construction spending fell 1.9% in September to a $2,186.1 billion annual rate and homebuilding dropped 5.5%, thinning the 2027 supply pipeline.

The facts

Total construction spending ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,186.1 billion in September, -1.9% against the revised August rate of $2,227.4 billion.
Measured against September 2025 the figure is 2.7% lower: $2,186.1 billion versus $2,245.8 billion.
Private residential construction fell to $848.8 billion, 5.5% below the revised August rate of $898.0 billion and 8.9% below a year earlier.
New single-family building was unchanged at $403.4 billion and new multifamily rose 0.1% to $115.9 billion, so neither new-build line caused the residential drop.
Private nonresidential spending rose 1.1% to $790.6 billion, while total public construction slipped 0.1% to $546.8 billion.
Over the first nine months of 2026 spending totalled $1,649.6 billion, 2.9% under the $1,698.6 billion of the same period in 2025.

Homebuilding is shrinking faster than the rest. Fewer completions in 2027 mean less choice for buyers and more pressure on rents.
Glopra puts the average United States home at $369,678 against an average monthly rent of $1,948, a gross yield of 6.32% — the figure a thinner supply pipeline tends to lift.
Nonresidential work rose 1.1% in the same month, so the pullback is specific to housing rather than a slowdown across the whole construction sector.
For anyone already holding a US rental, 8.9% less residential construction spending than a year ago means less competing new stock, while the weak demand behind that number also caps what a resale fetches.

The October figures are scheduled for release on December 1, 2026.
September is a preliminary estimate and August was revised, so the 1.9% monthly change may be restated.
The release prints no separate improvements line, so the 5.5% residential fall cannot be split further than the two new-build categories, both of which were flat.

Sources: US Census Bureau https://www.census.gov/construction/c30/pdf/release.pdf