US building permits statistics & facts

US building permits at a glance

A building permit is the official approval from a local government to build a new home. Because nearly every new home in the United States needs one before construction can begin, permit numbers are one of the earliest signals of where home building is heading. According to the Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, local authorities approved 1,431,616 new housing units in 2025, 3.1 percent fewer than the 1,478,000 approved in 2024. The total construction value of these permits was 378.99 billion dollars. Our overview of residential construction in the United States puts these figures in context.

Permits are concentrated in a small number of fast-growing states. Texas alone approved 210,217 units in 2025, 15 percent of the national total, followed by Florida with 178,297 units and California with 103,856. Together, the ten states with the most permits accounted for more than half of all new housing approved in the country. At the metro level, Dallas and Houston each approved more than 65,000 units; together they approved more housing than the entire Northeast region.

Building permits since 2005

Permit numbers follow the same long cycle as housing starts. At the height of the housing bubble in 2005, local governments issued permits for 2,155,300 units, of which 1,682,000 were single-family homes. After the crash, permits fell to 583,000 in 2009, a decline of 73 percent. They recovered slowly over the following decade, passing one million in 2014 and reaching a cycle peak of 1,737,000 in 2021, when low interest rates and strong demand drove a building boom.

Below the 2021 peak: permits reached 1.74 million in 2021 and fell to 1.43 million in 2025, still about two-thirds of the 2005 record.

Since 2021, permits have declined for four consecutive years: to 1,665,100 in 2022, 1,511,100 in 2023, 1,478,000 in 2024 and 1,431,616 in 2025. Single-family permits peaked at 1,115,400 in 2021 and stood at 911,900 in 2025. Permits for buildings with two or more units, which are mostly apartments, rose 5.6 percent in 2025 to 516,886, according to NAHB analysis of Census data, a sign that multifamily development has started to recover after its sharp downturn in 2023 and 2024.

Building permits by state

Four states in the South and West dominate permit activity. Texas approved 210,217 housing units in 2025, down from 225,756 in 2024, followed by Florida with 178,297 and California with 103,856. Florida and California were the only states in the top ten to approve more units than in 2024. North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona each approved between 51,000 and 87,000 units. New York and Washington were the only states outside the Sun Belt in the top ten.

Texas leads by far: Texas approved 210,217 housing units in 2025, 15 percent of the US total and more than twice as many as California.

The year-on-year changes show how unevenly the slowdown spread across the country. The biggest increases in 2025 came in smaller markets: Connecticut approved 22.7 percent more units than in 2024, Maine 15.7 percent, Kansas 13.6 percent, Oklahoma 13.5 percent and Arkansas 13.2 percent. The biggest declines were in New Jersey, down 20.8 percent, Maryland, down 20.6 percent, Alaska, down 17.8 percent, and Vermont, down 13.6 percent.

Winners and losers: permits rose 22.7 percent in Connecticut but fell 20.8 percent in New Jersey and 20.6 percent in Maryland.

The type of housing being approved also differs by state. In some places, apartments make up most of the new supply: in Washington DC, 86.2 percent of all units authorized in 2025 were in buildings with five or more units, in Connecticut 66.5 percent and in New York 65.7 percent. In most Sun Belt states, by contrast, single-family homes dominate, reflecting cheaper land and lower density.

Permits by region

By region, the South approved 771,200 housing units in 2025, 54 percent of the national total, according to the Census Bureau. The West followed with 322,000 units, the Midwest with 210,600 and the Northeast with 127,800. The South also led in single-family permits, with 537,000 of the 911,900 single-family units approved nationwide.

More than half in the South: the South approved 771,200 of the 1.43 million housing units permitted in 2025.

Metro areas with the most permits

Among metro areas, Dallas approved the most new housing in 2025 with 66,179 units, narrowly ahead of Houston with 65,075. New York, the largest metro by population, ranked third with 44,444 units, followed by Phoenix with 39,699, Atlanta with 33,670, Orlando with 27,845 and Austin with 27,322. Five of the top seven metros are in Texas, Florida or Georgia. Real estate trends in these cities are covered in our report on development prospects for US cities. Which builders are most active in these markets is covered in our report on US homebuilders.

Texas metros on top: Dallas and Houston each approved more than 65,000 housing units in 2025.

Building permits in 2026

In August 2026, building permits were issued at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,394,000, 2.7 percent fewer than in July but 3.5 percent more than in August 2025. Single-family permits ran at 878,000, up 1.3 percent from a year earlier, and permits for buildings with five or more units at 467,000, up 9.4 percent. In the first eight months of 2026, a total of 969,100 units were authorized, almost exactly the same as a year earlier. The gap between permits and actual construction is covered in our report on US housing starts and completions.

Apartments lead the rebound: permits for buildings with five or more units rose 9.4 percent in a year to an annual rate of 467,000.

An increasing number of projects are approved but not started. In August 2026, 280,000 units had been authorized but not yet started, 12.9 percent more than a year earlier. Developers may wait because financing is expensive, costs have risen or demand is uncertain. These problems are covered in more detail in our reports on home builder challenges and the cost to build a house.

Why permits matter for the housing shortage

Permits are where housing policy meets construction. Zoning rules, minimum lot sizes, parking requirements and the time it takes to get approval all determine how many homes can be built and where. States such as Texas and Florida approve far more housing than other large states, while many coastal markets with strict rules approve relatively little. Many economists argue that easing local rules is one of the most effective ways to address the US housing shortage.

Permit fees and impact fees also add to costs. In the latest NAHB survey, 57 percent of builders said impact fees and other fees were a significant problem in 2025, and 54 percent cited environmental regulations. Regulation and fees are part of the price of every new home, alongside land, materials and labor. Construction trends for the industry as a whole are covered in our report on the US construction industry.

Building permits in numbers

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