Housing Affordability Crisis Cut Freight Volumes Across Dry Van, Flatbed, Rail

The U.S. housing affordability crisis is suppressing freight demand across multiple transport modes, despite a strong industrial sector, according to a SONAR Sitrep report on June 5, 2026. High interest rates and low housing turnover have cut volumes in dry van, flatbed, rail carload, and intermodal shipments that typically drive freight market recoveries. U.S. housing starts fell 2.8% month-over-month in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.465 million, down 0.9% year-over-year. A sharp divergence is deepening the freight impact: single-family starts plunged 12.3% year-over-year to 952,000 units, while multifamily construction edged higher. Single-family homes generate significantly more freight for building materials, appliances, and retail goods, starving carriers of core loads. The slump has rippled through regional shipping corridors from open-deck to boxcar. Industrial real estate markets are tightening, with national warehouse availability dropping for the first time since 2021 and the construction pipeline shrinking 35%, but the housing drag continues to offset gains from AI infrastructure and last-mile logistics buildout, according to Link Logistics.