Source: Statista

Following a surge in new housing starts to end 2019, the global COVID-19 pandemic has reached the private housing construction industry in the U.S. and caused a record-low number of new projects in the country.

In data reported from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, just 891,000 new housing constructions were started in the country for the month of April. That’s down over 30 percent from March and nearly 30 percent from a year prior, placing housing starts in the country at a new five-year low.

Housing construction had been slumping throughout 2018, and had just reached a recovery period that culminated in a healthy 1.6 million new housing starts in January to begin the year.

Analysts expect an unsurprising contraction in the housing market but are optimistic that construction and sales could resume once lockdowns for COVID-19 are lifted. Still, with unemployment skyrocketing and over 20 million Americans out of work, the housing industry – like many other industries – could be down for some time before a proper recovery is realized.