Single-Family Permits Hold Steady in April

Economics
Published

Over the first four months of 2024, the total number of single-family permits issued year to date (YTD) nationwide reached 336,124. This is an increase of 25.3% on a year-over-year basis over the April 2023 level of 268,205.

Single-family permits were up in all four regions YTD in April. The range of permit increase spanned 36.4% in the West to 12.6% in the Northeast. The Midwest was up by 27.2%, and the South was up by 22.7% in single-family permits during this time.

For multifamily permits, three out of the four regions posted declines. The Northeast — the only region to post an increase — was up by 51.2%, while the West posted a decline of 36.4%, the South declined by 27.9%, and the Midwest declined by 11.6%.

At the local level, below are the top 10 metro areas that issued the highest number of single-family permits.

Top 10 Largest Single-Family Markets April 2024 - # of Units YTD, NSA YTD % Change
(Compared to April 2023)
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 18,828 22%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 16,404 29%
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 11,056 68%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 9,398 27%
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC 6,746 9%
Austin-Round Rock, TX 6,322 31%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 5,369 27%
Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN 4,873 9%
Jacksonville, FL 4,519 29%
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL 4,488 -16%

For multifamily permits, below are the top 10 local areas that issued the highest number of permits.

Top 10 Largest Multifamily Markets April 2024 - # of Units YTD, NSA YTD % Change
(Compared to April 2023)
New York-Newark-Jersey City-NY-NJ-PA 18,811 85%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 9,161 16%
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 6,003 -17%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 5,237 -10%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL 4,244 -36%
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX 4,225 -45%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 4,134 -24%
Austin-Round Rock, TX 4,128 -32%
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 3,875 3%
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria-DC-VA-MD-WV 3,766 8%

Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington, NAHB’s assistant vice president for forecasting and analysis, provides more state-by-state analysis in this Eye on Housing post.

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