West housing construction report: September 2026

The regional comparison

The West’s September permit rate was 283,000 housing units, 10.2% below revised August and 11.3% below September 2025. Total starts were estimated at 235,000, down 23.2% from revised August and 25.4% from a year earlier.

Values below are thousands of housing units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), not monthly permit documents or project counts. Census calculates percentage changes from unrounded estimates. Single-family permits were unchanged from revised August at the published precision.

Census/HUD September 2026 release, October 20 vintage (PDF), tables 1a and 3a ↗

What the uncertainty allows us to say

The total-starts month change of −23.2% has a 90% confidence interval of ±22.9 percentage points: −46.1% to −0.3%. The year change of −25.4% ±14.3 points spans −39.7% to −11.1%. Both intervals exclude zero, supporting a decrease at Census’s 90% confidence level in this release.

Single-family starts are different: −3.7% ±21.3 points month to month (−25.0% to +17.6%) and −8.9% ±20.0 points year to year (−28.9% to +11.1%). Both include zero, so neither establishes a direction of change. These intervals cover sampling variability, not every possible source of error. Permit estimates have nonsampling error; do not apply the starts intervals to permits.

A statistically significant regional monthly change still does not establish a sustained trend, a local contractor’s workload or future material orders. Preliminary estimates can be revised.

Census/HUD September 2026 release, October 20 vintage (PDF), tables 1a and 3a ↗

Reconcile August before comparing editions

The earlier August report used the September 17 release. The October 20 release revises August’s West figures as shown below. September’s month comparisons use the revised August column, not the older August values. These are revisions to the same survey month, not new September activity.

July’s overlapping West SAAR figures remain 308 total permits, 178 single-family permits, 244 total starts and 154 single-family starts in both reviewed releases. The prior dated report and its downloads remain intact.

Census/HUD September 2026 release, October 20 vintage (PDF), tables 1a and 3a ↗Prior August report and original vintage ↗September 17 source PDF ↗

Housing units, annual rates and regional coverage

Permits describe new privately owned housing units authorized in permit-issuing places. Starts are a separate survey measure and generally begin with excavation for footings or foundations. They do not follow the same month’s permits through a project pipeline. An apartment building can represent many housing units.

SAAR adjusts for estimated seasonal patterns and expresses the monthly pace as an annual rate. It is neither the number built so far this year nor a forecast. These measures do not cover all commercial construction, remodeling orders or contractor identities.

The West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. No city, county or individual distributor territory is estimated here.

Census Survey of Construction definitions ↗Census BPS coverage ↗

Source vintage and next release

We retrieved the October 20 PDF on October 22 and checked West columns in tables 1a and 3a, including preliminary/revised labels and the confidence-interval rows. The JSON records the source hash, retrieval time, values and revision ledger.

The official calendar checked October 22 schedules September’s revised BPS release for October 27 and the next NRC release for November 18. October 27 data were not yet due at this check and are not included here. A later BPS review must retain its own vintage and explain any differences; it must not silently replace this October 20 edition.

Change log: initial September report, October 22, 2026. If source access fails, retain this dated edition and mark the new review unresolved. No latest-data dashboard or live territory collection is established by this report.

Official release calendar ↗Census historical release archive ↗

Use the report in a supplier territory review

Use the regional decline as context for questions about the counties you serve, product categories and customer segments. Gather local evidence before changing an account priority or inventory plan. An issued permit does not establish an open bid, an unawarded job or a purchase order.

Business teams can request a source and coverage review for a specific geography and work category. ObservedWork must confirm access and scope; this regional archive does not establish ongoing local collection.

Request a B2B territory coverage review ↗

Your checklist

Sources and method

Sources reviewed October 22, 2026 unless a record carries its own observation date.

• Census/HUD September 2026 release, October 20 vintage (PDF), tables 1a and 3a
• Census Survey of Construction definitions
• Census BPS scope
• Official release calendar

Continue with ObservedWork

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• Permit dates and freshness
• Coverage approach
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• Washington contractor registration vs. business license: which record do you need?
• Contractor insurance verification checklist: what to record and ask
• Austin permit search: mechanical change-outs, October 5–11, 2026
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