An increase in residential building starts helped buoy a 20% drop in total construction starts in November, reports Dodge Construction Network (DCN). The organization reported in its monthly index that residential starts increased 13.3% over the month, while nonresidential starts dropped by 13.4%.

Despite the November data, year-to-date total construction starts through November were up 5.1% from last year. Nonresidential starts were up 4.7%, and residential starts were down 4.9%. For the 12 months ending November 2025, total construction starts were up 5.7% from the 12 months ending November 2024. Residential starts were down 3.6%, and nonresidential starts grew 4.8%.

“A lack of megaproject activity contributed to a weak November for construction starts,” says Eric Gaus, DCN’s chief economist. “There were only two structures over a billion dollars. Looking through the noise of the last two months, the trajectory of the last half of 2025 has been much better than the first half.”

Nonresidential building starts decreased in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $485 billion. Commercial starts were down 25.8%, alongside declines in offices, data centers and hotels. Institutional starts improved 11.4%, driven by gains in public and education buildings. Manufacturing activity remains volatile, falling 50.7% in November. On a year-to-date basis through November, nonresidential starts were up 4.7% compared to the first 11 months of 2024. Commercial and industrial starts were up 11.6% and institutional starts were down 2.0% over the same period.

The largest nonresidential building projects to break ground in November were the $1.8 billion LAX Terminal 5 renovation and reconstruction in Los Angeles, the $800 million Amazon (Southern Site) Data Center in Olive Township, Indiana, and the $797 million New UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Campus in Oakland.

Residential building starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $368 billion. Single-family starts increased 3.1%, while multifamily starts jumped 35.6%. On a year-to-date basis through November, residential starts were down 4.9%, with single-family starts down 12.8% and multifamily starts up 12.4%.

For the 12 months ending November 2025, total residential starts fell 3.6%. Single-family starts declined by 11.2% compared to the 12 months ending November 2024, and multifamily starts increased by 12.4% over the same period.

The largest multifamily structures to break ground in November

were the $391 million residential mixed-use in Seattle, the $228 million Marine Drive Apartments/Parking (Phase 1) in Buffalo and the $224 million Namdar Mixed-Use Residential-Swimming Pool-Parking Phase 2 in Miami.