US Townhouse Construction Starts Hold Steady in 2025

According to the latest US Census Bureau release of Housing Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design, with additional analysis from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), single-family attached housing starts—townhouses—totaled 38,000 in Q4. This marked the weakest quarterly reading for the sector since 2023Q1.

For the full year, townhouse construction starts reached 173,000 homes in 2025, essentially unchanged from 174,000 starts recorded in 2024. In Q4, townhouses accounted for more than 17% of all single-family housing starts.

Using a one-year moving average, the market share of newly built townhouses reached 18.4% of all single-family starts in Q3. NAHB noted that the four-quarter moving average share in Q3 was the highest on record in data dating back to 1985.

Prior to the current cycle, the previous peak occurred in 2008Q1, when the townhouse share reached 14.6% on a one-year moving average basis. That earlier high followed a steady increase in townhouse market share beginning in the early 1990s.

According to NAHB, long-term prospects for townhouse construction remain favorable as more homebuyers seek medium-density residential neighborhoods, including walkable urban-style communities with shared amenities.