Another Gain In Single Family and Multifamily Permits
The U.S. housing market is still going strong. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date nationwide reached 276,110 in March, up 25.3% over the March 2020 level of 220,416 and total number of multifamily permits issued year-to-date nationwide reached 131,227 in March, up 20.4% over the March 2020 level of 108,977.
Single-family permits were high in all four regions. The Midwest reported a 40% increase, next the Northeast with a 27.3% increase, followed by the West with a 23.9% increase and the South saw a 23.1% increase. There was also an increase in 49 states and the District of Columbia.
The highest growth rate was 300% from 20 to 80 in the District of Columbia between March 2020 YTD and March 2021 YTD. The top 10 states on the list accounted for a total of 62.8% of the total single-family permits issued. The top 10 metropolitan areas with the highest number of single-family home permits were Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (13,094), Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland (12,745) and Austin-Round Rock (6,189), and two were in Florida; Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (5,219) and Jacksonville (3,391).
All four regions also saw a gain in multifamily permits in March 2021. The South reported the highest at 22.1%, the Northeast 21.3%, the West 20.3% and the Midwest 13.5% increase. During the time between March 2020 YTD and March 2021 YTD 36 states saw an increase in multifamily permits.
The highest was seen in New Mexico with an increase of 1,267.7%. The top 10 metropolitan areas with the highest number of multifamily home permits were New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (9,222), Austin-Round Rock, TX (7,359), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (6,661), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington,TX (5.594), Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA (5,555), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV (5,183), Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-ME (3,881), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ (3,095) and Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN (2,888).
