Housing permits continued a downhill trend for the fifth month in a row, pointing to a broader residential construction slowdown for 2025. This slowdown is attributed to factors like higher mortgage rates, tariff concerns, and challenges about future housing demand due to economic uncertainty.
Over the first five months of 2025, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 404,977. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a decline of 6.1% over the May 2024 level of 431,196. For multifamily, the total number of permits issued nationwide reached 195,561. This is essentially unchanged from the May 2024 level of 195,932.
Year-to-date ending in May, single-family permits were up in two out of the four regions. The Midwest and the Northeast posted small increases of 0.9% and 0.7% respectively. The South was down by 7.6% and the West was down by 7.4% in single-family permits during this time. For multifamily permits, three out of the four regions posted increases. The Midwest was up by 20.0%, the West was up by 5.2%, and the South was up by 3.5%, Meanwhile, the Northeast declined steeply by 31.2%, driven by the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ MSA which declined by 42.0%.
Between May 2025 YTD and May 2024 YTD, 16 states posted an increase in single-family permits. The range of increases spanned 26.2% in Hawaii to 0.4% in Pennsylvania. The remaining 34 states and the District of Columbia reported declines in single-family permits with New Mexico reporting the steepest decline of 24.5%.
The ten states issuing the highest number of single-family permits combined accounted for 63.2% of the total single-family permits issued. Texas, the state with the highest number of single-family permits, issued 66,055 permits over the first five months of 2025; This is a decline of 8.7% compared to the same period last year. The second highest state, Florida, decreased by 12.2%, while the third highest, North Carolina, posted a decline of 3.9%.
Between May 2025 YTD and May 2024 YTD, 27 states recorded growth in multifamily permits, while 23 states and the District of Columbia recorded a decline. Iowa (+168.0%) led the way with a sharp rise in multifamily permits from 781 to 2,093, while Alabama had the biggest decline of 54.7% from 1,676 to 760.
The ten states issuing the highest number of multifamily permits combined accounted for 61.1% of the multifamily permits issued. Over the first five months of 2025, Florida, the state with the highest number of multifamily permits issued, experienced an increase of 14.5%. Texas, the second-highest state in multifamily permits, saw an increase of 12.7%. California, the third largest multifamily issuing state, increased by 1.1%.
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.
Discover more from Eye On Housing
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
This article was originally published by a eyeonhousing.org . Read the Original article here. .
