For 2020, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) reached 977,863 nationwide. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 14.5% increase over the December 2019 level of 854,158.

Year-to-date ending in December, single-family permits reported increases in all four regions. The South reported the strongest increase by 16.9%, followed by the Midwest (+13.1%), the Northeast (+11.6%), and the West (10.5%). However, multifamily permits continued to underperform compared to December 2019, recording declines in all four regions. The Northeast region had the steepest decline in multifamily (-11.1%), followed by the South (-9.2%), West (-8.2%), and the Midwest (-1.2%).

Between December 2019 YTD and December 2020 YTD, 45 states saw growth in single-family permits issued while five states and the District of Columbia registered a decline. Vermont recorded the highest growth rate during this time at 45.7% from 882 to 1,285, while single-family permits in the District of Columbia declined by 17.3%, from 168 in 2019 to 139 in 2020. The 10 states issuing the highest number of single-family permits combined accounted for 61.5% of the total single-family permits issued.

Year-to-date, ending in December 2020, the total number of multifamily permits issued nationwide reached 473,716. This is 8.2% lower than its level over the year 2019, 516,189.

Between December 2019 YTD and December 2020 YTD, 16 states and the District of Columbia recorded growth while 34 states recorded a decline in multifamily permits. South Dakota led the way with a sharp rise (124.2%) in multifamily permits from 1,267 to 2,841, while Kentucky had the largest decline of 51.9% from 4,881 to 2,348. The 10 states issuing the highest number of multifamily permits combined accounted for 63.0% of the multifamily permits issued.

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

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

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