Building Permits in the United States decreased to 1394 Thousand in May from 1422 Thousand in April of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Building Permits - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Graph and download economic data for New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places: Total Units (PERMIT) from Jan 1960 to May 2025 about headline figure, permits, buildings, new, private, housing, and USA.

In May 2025, there were ******* permits for new residential construction in the United States. Despite some fluctuations, the number of building permits issued in the past couple of years has been falling. The number of U.S. new home construction starts has also been lower than in previous years.

This dataset contains data on permits for residential construction collected in the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey. Data is aggregated to the County level. Data is only for final permits, not preliminary permits. Final permit data is published in May of the following year. Annual data are available from 1980 through the most recent reporting year, and may also contain imputed values. This dataset is part of the State of the Cities Data Systems (SOCDS).

There were approximately ******* building permits for single-family housing units granted in the United States in 2024. That number was lower than in 2021, when the number of building permits peaked. However, those figures increased again in 2024. The numbers still remain considerably lower than its 2005 peak with **** million building permits.

What is considered a single-family home? Single-family homes are detached, independent properties built as the residence for one person, family, or household. In 2025, it is expected that the number of single-family housing units under construction in the United States will increase to over *** million. In 2024, New York was one of the cities in the U.S. with the highest construction costs for residential single-family buildings. However, there were significant differences between the costs of a multi-family and a single-detached home. What is the price of a single-family home in the United States? Price is one of the main factors in deciding whether to buy an existing or new home. In 2023, the median sales price of an existing single-family home in the United States increased slightly, reaching ******* U.S. dollars. However, the price of single-family houses can vary a lot depending on its location and other factors.

Building Permits MoM in the United States decreased by 2 percent in May from -4 percent in April of 2025. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for the United States Building Permits MoM.

Key information about US Building Permits

• United States Building Permits data was reported at 111,517.000 Unit in Jan 2025.
• This records a decrease from the previous number of 112,592.000 Unit for Dec 2024.
• US Building Permits data is updated monthly, averaging 112,592.000 Unit from Jan 1959 to Jan 2025, with 793 observations.
• The data reached an all-time high of 214,600.000 Unit in Jun 1972 and a record low of 36,280.000 Unit in Jan 2011.
• US Building Permits data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by CEIC Data.
• The data is categorized under World Trend Plus’s Global Economic Monitor – Table: Building Permits: Monthly.

Graph and download economic data for New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places: Single-Family Units (PERMIT1) from Jan 1960 to May 2025 about 1-unit structures, permits, family, buildings, new, private, housing, and USA.

Texas and Florida were the states with most residential building permits issued in 2024, with roughly ******* and ******* permits issued, respectively. On the other side of the spectrum, Alaska and Rhode Island issued fewer permits than any other state. The overall number of building permits for new residential construction in the U.S. has fluctuated a lot in the past years.

Housing permit data is derived from reports and publications compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau's Residential Construction Statistics Division. Municipalities provide the U.S. Census Bureau with tabulations of the number of housing units authorized, according to types of structures. In the few cases where municipalities reported building permit approvals for some months but not for all 12 months, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates the total yearly number of units approved based on past years’ approvals.

Residential building permits in United States were in short demand in 2018, rising only *** percent across the country. Many large cities have reduced the number of residential building permits, such as Chicago, which handed out ** percent less permits in 2018 than the previous year. Building permits may specifically apply to large housing units with multiple living spaces, to single family houses. Before construction can begin on any new or existing building, a permit must be obtained from the appropriate city council. Building permit numbers have increased significantly in both Houston, Texas and Orlando, Florida metro areas, with **** and **** percent more permits issued in 2018 than 2017, respectively.

Homes are where the heat is Generally speaking, the construction of new homes can be a good indicator of how local economies are fairing, as it can mean that individuals have acquired enough wealth to own their own home or businesses are expanding. The 2018 residential building permit figures provide some insight into the current demographic of cities, particularly with regards to the job market. For instance, in the „snowbird“state of Florida, ** percent of new residents in Orlando were between ages 25 and **, and presumably their careers still play a large role. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sandford metro area is within close range of engineering firms such as Lockheed Martin, as well as new tech companies, which offer higher salaries and better prospects than other industries. Florida unemployment continues to decline and dropped to *** percent in 2018.
Incidentally, cities that tend to be popular for Americans in their early twenties, tend to be the cities that are reducing their number of new residential building permits (Chicago, Illinois; New York, New York; and Los Angeles, California). But this does not mean that these cities are in financial trouble. Chicago’s GDP is steadily growing and unemployment in Illinois was at *** percent in 2018. Bigger and denser cities tend to attract younger groups as they can walk from location to location and remain amongst the excitement that cities have to offer.

Provides description, categorization, cost, and status of permitted work on properties. Includes history of permitted work.

In 2024, there were roughly ******* building permits for multifamily housing units granted in the United States. The number of housing authorized that year was lower than in previous years, given that multifamily housing permits have fallen two years in a row. In contrast, the number of building permits for single-family housing units did not have such a sharp decrease. Multifamily housing projects on the increase Multifamily homes refer to buildings that contain at least two housing units, including apartment buildings and duplexes. In 2022, building work had started on over **** a million multifamily housing units in the United States – the highest number recorded in the past decades, but those numbers have fallen significantly in the years after that. However, it is expected that multifamily housing starts will grow again in 2025. What are the trends in size of different properties? One of the noticeable differences between multifamily and single-family housing is the size of the units. In 2023, the median size of a multifamily unit in the United States was over ***** square feet. In contrast, the median size of a single-family housing unit that same year was well over ***** as large.

In 2024, more housing units were authorized by building permits in the South of the United States than in the rest of the country combined. That year, there were roughly 802,500 homes whose construction was authorized by permits in the South of the U.S., but only 324,800 in the West.

The number of single-family housing units that were authorized by building permits in the south of the United States decreased significantly between 2021 and 2024. Nevertheless, that was by far the region with most homes authorized. The number of house construction permits in the west also fell in the past years. Despite some seasonal variation, the overall number of residential building permits in the U.S. was higher than a decade earlier.

Between January and October 2019, the New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan area issued around 35,700 multifamily building permits and was the major metro area with the highest number of permits of this kind issued in the United States.

Housing Starts in the United States decreased to 1256 Thousand units in May from 1392 Thousand units in April of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Housing Starts - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The statistic represents the value of new privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in the United States in 2018, by select state. In that year, these new privately owned housing units were valued at 34.7 billion U.S. dollars in Texas.

Most of the new housing permits for privately owned projects in the United States in 2023 were either single-family buildings. Nevertheless, the number of permits for multifamily construction projects with 5 housing units or more has risen significantly in the past decade. The south of the United States was the region where the highest number of single-family building permits were issued.

United States - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places: Total Units was 1393.00000 Thous. of Units in May of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places: Total Units reached a record high of 2419.00000 in December of 1972 and a record low of 513.00000 in March of 2009. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places: Total Units - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.