July Single-Family Permits See Year-Over-Year Increase

There were more single-family permits issued in July this year than last year, with a year-over-year increase of 5.8%. In July 2019, there were 496,726 single-family permits issued nationwide. In July of this year, that number hit 525,623, according to NAHB. Permits per US region and state varied greatly though. While 35 states reported increases in single-family permits, 14 states and the District of Columbia reported a decline. Out of the four US regions, the South saw the largest jump in permits and the Northeast saw the largest decrease.

Year-to-date ending in July, single-family permits across the four regions ranged from an increase of 8.6% in the South to a decline of 1.7% in the Northeast. In multifamily permits, Midwest reported a 1.4% increase while the other three regions reported declines – Northeast (-6.0%), West (-5.1%), and South (-0.5%).

Between July 2019 YTD and July 2020 YTD, 35 states saw growth in single-family permits issued while 14 states and the District of Columbia registered a decline. Louisiana recorded no change during this time. South Dakota recorded the highest growth rate during this time at 35.9% from 1,508 to 2,050 while single-family permits in the District of Columbia declined by 41.0%, from 117 in 2019 to 69 in 2020. The 10 states issuing the highest number of single-family permits combined accounted for 61.6% of the total single-family permits issued.

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