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.

Subscribe to NAHBNow

Log in or create account to subscribe to notifications of new posts.

Log in to subscribe

Latest from NAHBNow

BUILD-PAC

Aug 15, 2025

Successful BUILD-PAC Events Raise $140,000

Home builders associations (HBAs) across the United States are raising funds for BUILD-PAC, NAHB's bipartisan political arm, during its 2025-26 cycle. Two recent HBA events raised more than $140,000 combined.

Advocacy

Aug 14, 2025

NAHB Releases New Housing Favorability Assessment for HBAs

Local associations that complete the assessment will learn how their community compares to others and NAHB’s State and Local team will help the association develop a long-term plan to create a favorable housing environment in their community.

View all

Latest Economic News

Economics

Aug 15, 2025

June Single-Family Permits Slumps, Multifamily Gains

Single-family housing permits continued a downhill trend for the sixth month in a row. The continuous decline in single-family permits highlights persistently weak housing demand, tied to affordability challenges like high mortgage rates.

Economics

Aug 15, 2025

Credit Conditions for Builders Tighten

For the fourteenth consecutive quarter, builders and developers reported tighter credit conditions on loans for residential Land Acquisition, Development & Construction (AD&C) in NAHB’s quarterly survey on AD&C Financing.

Economics

Aug 14, 2025

Building Material Prices Rise in July

Prices for residential building materials rose again in July, marking the largest year-over-year increase in over two years. The underlying price growth trend remained the same, with service prices continuing to grow at a faster pace than goods prices. Similar to last month, parts for construction machinery and metal molding/trim experienced significant price growth, as both increased over 25% compared to last year.