Housing Rebound: Year-over-Year Gains for June Single-Family Permits

Over the first six months of 2020 – and after the onset of the impact of the coronavirus – total single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 433,484. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is an 3.8% increase over the June 2019 level of 417,453.

Year-to-date ending in June, single-family permits across the four regions ranging from an increase of 6.5% in the South to a decline of 1.7% in the Northeast. In multifamily permits, South reported a 3.1% increase while the other three regions reported declines – Northeast (-14.7%), Midwest (-6.2%), and West (-5.6%).

Between June 2019 YTD and June 2020 YTD, 34 states saw growth in single-family permits issued while 16 states and the District of Columbia registered a decline. South Dakota recorded the highest growth rate during this time at 36.7% from 1,178 to 1,610, while single-family permits in the District of Columbia declined by 50.0%, from 108 in 2019 to 54 in 2020. The 10 states issuing the highest number of single-family permits combined accounted for 61.8% of the total single-family permits issued.

Year-to-date, ending in June 2020, the total number of multifamily permits issued nationwide reached 224,918. This is 3.3% decline over the June 2019 level of 232,682.

Between June 2019 YTD and June 2020 YTD, 21 states and the District of Columbia recorded growth while 29 states recorded a decline in multifamily permits. North Dakota led the way with a sharp rise (449.0%) in multifamily permits from 98 to 538, while Michigan reported the largest decline of 55.1% from 3,117 to 1,401. The 10 states issuing the highest number of multifamily permits combined accounted for 64.3% of the multifamily permits issued.

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

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