Permit Activity Declines in March 2025

Permits continue a downhill trend for the third month in a row. Over the first three months of 2025, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 232,221. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a decline of 3.8% over the March 2024 level of 241311. For multifamily, the total number of permits issued nationwide reached 113,344. This is 3.7% below the March 2024 level of 117,695.

Year-to-date ending in March, single-family permits were down in three out of the four regions. The Northeast posted an increase of 9.2%. The Midwest was down by 1.9%, the South was down by 4.8%, and the West was down by 5.0% in single-family permits during this time. For multifamily permits, two out of the four regions posted increases. The South was up by 14.6% and the Midwest was up by 12.9%. Meanwhile, the West posted a decline of 13.0% and the Northeast declined steeply by 42.8%.

Between March 2025 YTD and March 2024 YTD, 20 states posted an increase in single-family permits. The range of increases spanned 29.6% in Alaska to 0.2% in Utah. The remaining 30 states and the District of Columbia reported declines in single-family permits with New Mexico reporting the steepest decline of 32.7%.

The ten states issuing the highest number of single-family permits combined accounted for 64.3% of the total single-family permits issued. Texas, the state with the highest number of single-family permits, issued 38,425 permits over the first three months 2025, which is a decline of 5.5% compared to the same period last year. The second highest state, Florida, was down by 8.8%, while the third highest, North Carolina, posted a decline of 0.1%.

Between March 2025 YTD and March 2024 YTD, 23 states and the District of Columbia recorded growth in multifamily permits, while 27 states recorded a decline. Alaska (+533.3%) led the way with a sharp rise in multifamily permits from 12 to 76, while New York had the biggest decline of 64.8% from 11,316 to 3,984.

The ten states issuing the highest number of multifamily permits combined accounted for 61.7% of the multifamily permits issued. Over the first three months of 2025, Florida, the state with the highest number of multifamily permits issued, experienced an increase of 48.8%. Texas, the second-highest state in multifamily permits, saw a decline of 0.5%. California, the third largest multifamily issuing state, decreased by 22.7%.

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

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