Over the first eight months of 2019, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 576,798. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 3.7% decline over the August 2018 level of 599,117.

Year-to-date ending in August, single-family permits reported declines in three out of the four regions. Northeast was the only region to post a growth of 0.4%. The South, and West, and the Midwest declined by 1.6%, 6.6%, and 8.8% respectively, compared to the same time period in 2018. The Northeastern region had the highest growth in multifamily (17.2%) while the West recorded a decline in multifamily permits growth (-0.8%) during the last 12 months as housing affordability concerns reduce production of both single-family and multifamily residences.

Between August 2018 YTD and August 2019 YTD, 14 states and the District of Columbia saw growth in single-family permits issued while 36 states registered a decline. The District of Columbia recorded the highest growth rate during this time at 59.7% from 77 to 123, while single-family permits in Montana declined by 23.0%, from 1884 in 2018 to 1451 in 2019. The 10 states issuing the highest number of single-family permits combined accounted for 60.8% of the total single-family permits issued.

Year-to-date, ending in August 2019, the total number of multifamily permits issued nationwide reached 327,880. This is 7.4% ahead of its level over the year 2018, 305,334.

Between August 2018 YTD and August 2019 YTD, 30 states and the District of Columbia recorded growth while 20 states recorded a decline in multifamily permits. Michigan led the way with a sharp rise (122.7%) in multifamily permits from 2074 to 4618, while North Dakota had the largest decline of 57.3% from 726 to 310. The 10 states issuing the highest number of multifamily permits combined accounted for 62.7% of the multifamily permits issued.

Tags: home building, multifamily, single-family, state and local markets, state permits