Single-Family Permits Ring In the New Year Strong
We might have had a rough 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic and strict stay-at-home orders but the housing market showed no sign of slowing down. The National Association of Home Builders reported a great ending to 2020 for Single-Family Permits. According to the United States Census Building Permits Survey, a total of 977,863 single-family permits were issued year-to-date in the country in 2020. This is a 14.5% increase on a year-over-year basis from December 2019 which reported 854,158.
The chart shows the amounts for each region. The South had the strongest with a 16.9% increase, Midwest followed with a 13.1% increase,
the Northwest had an 11.6% increase and the West showed a 10.5% increase for 2020. Muli-family numbers were all on the decline in all four regions. The worst was the Northeast with a -11.1% decline, followed by the South with a -9.2% decline, the West declined -8.2% and the Midwest -1.2%.
Vermont had the highest rate of growth in single-family permits from 882 in 2019 to 1,285 in 2020. This was a 45.7% increase YTD. Forty-five states all showed an increase while the District of Columbia and five states showed a decline. The top 10 states accounted for 61.5% of the total single-family permits issued in 2020.
At the local level, below are top 10 metro areas that issued the highest number of single-family permits.
Metropolitan Statistical Area | Single-family Permits: Dec (Units #YTD, NSA) |
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 48,208 |
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 43,884 |
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 31,724 |
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | 28,057 |
Austin-Round Rock, TX | 21,653 |
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 17,807 |
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | 16,028 |
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | 15,523 |
Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN | 14,125 |
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 13,594 |
For multifamily permits, below are the top 10 local areas that issued the highest number of permits:
Metropolitan Statistical Area | Multifamily Permits: Dec (Units #YTD, NSA) |
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 42,739 |
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | 20,207 |
Austin-Round Rock, TX | 19,222 |
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 17,494 |
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | 16,178 |
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ | 14,894 |
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 14,752 |
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | 14,034 |
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 11,515 |
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN | 11,404 |