Multifamily permits were robust across the country in February compared to last year, from a large gain in the West (22%) to a modest 5.4% increase in the Midwest.
Between February 2020 YTD and February 2021 YTD, 36 states and the District of Columbia recorded growth in multifamily permits, while 14 states recorded a decline. New Mexico saw a sharp rise (714.3%) in multifamily permits from 42 to 342, while Nebraska dropped 66.9% from 516 to 171. The 10 states issuing the highest number of multifamily permits combined accounted for 66.4% of the multifamily permits issued.
Here are top 10 metro areas that issued the highest number of multifamily permits:
| Metropolitan Statistical Area |
Multifamily Permits: February
(Units # YTD, NSA) |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ |
7,122 |
| Austin-Round Rock, TX |
5,307 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA |
3,884 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC- VA-MD-WV |
3,494 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX |
3,432 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA |
3,431 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD |
3,206 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ |
2,708 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI |
2,698 |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX |
1,812 |
Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington, NAHB assistant vice president for forecasting and analysis, provides more in
this Eye on Housing post.
