Permits Kick Off 2025 With Setbacks

Permits are off to a lower level to start the new year. Over the first month of 2025, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 73,115. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a decline of 3.7% over the January 2024 level of 75,906. For multifamily, the total number of permits issued nationwide reached 38,402. This is 1.2% below the January 2024 level of 38,870.

Year-to-date ending in January, single-family permits were up in the Midwest (+11.0%) and the Northeast (+0.6%) but down in the two remaining regions. The West was down by 2.2% and the South was down by 6.6% in single-family permits during this time. For multifamily permits, three out of the four regions posted declines. The South was up by 12.9% but the West posted a decline of 23.4%, the Northeast declined by 14.3%, and the Midwest declined by 1.5%.

Between January 2025 YTD and January 2024 YTD, 26 states and the District of Columbia posted an increase in single-family permits. The range of increases spanned 525.0% in the District of Columbia to 0.1% in Utah. The remaining 24 states reported declines in single-family permits with Alaska reporting the steepest decline of 23.1% .

The ten states issuing the highest number of single-family permits combined accounted for 65.4% of the total single-family permits issued. Texas, the state with the highest number of single-family permits, issued 12,179 permits over the first month 2025, which is a decline of 4.2% compared to the same period last year. The second highest state, Florida, was down by 13.9%, while the third highest, North Carolina, posted a decline of 11.4%.

Between January 2025 YTD and January 2024 YTD, 22 states recorded growth in multifamily permits, while 27 states and the District of Columbia recorded a decline. In January 2024, Alaska issued zero permits and issued 9 multifamily permits in January 2025. Therefore, the growth rate for Alaska is undefined. The District of Columbia (+1,282.4%) led the way with a sharp rise in multifamily permits from 17 to 235, while Delaware had the biggest decline of 90.9% from 176 to 16.

The ten states issuing the highest number of multifamily permits combined accounted for 67.6% of the multifamily permits issued. Over the first month of 2025, Florida, the state with the highest number of multifamily permits issued, experienced an increase of 48.0%. Texas, the second-highest state in multifamily permits, saw a decline of 23.1%. New York, the third largest multifamily issuing state, decreased by 19.4%.

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.