The new data, released last week in the Washington DC Economic Partnership’s annual development report, shows that groundbreakings across all property sectors last year declined by 27% from 2024, which itself was a slow year for construction starts.

The amount of development that got underway during 2025 was down 68% from the pandemic-era peak in 2022, the year the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates. And it was the lowest level of construction starts since at least 2010, the first year in WDCEP’s data.

Construction starts in the office, hospitality and “quality of life” — education, medical and community amenities — sectors were down, while housing and retail starts were up.

The 1,933 residential units that broke ground last year represented an increase from the 1,362 in 2024, but each year was less than half of the level reached in every other year over the last decade. WDCEP’s report last year showed that rental housing starts fell by 79%.

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