United States Building Permits

Building permits in the United States fell by 3.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.467 million in March 2024, revised from a preliminary estimate of 1.458 million. This latest decline follows a 2.3% uptick in February, plunging permits to their lowest point since last September and signaling sustained sluggishness in the housing market, influenced by historically high borrowing costs. Single-family authorizations declined by 4.7% to a four-month low of 983 thousand, while approvals for the volatile multi-segment were down by 1.4% to 484 thousand. Across different US regions, permit declines in the South (-0.3% to 774 thousand), the Midwest (-13.9% to 199 thousand), and the Northeast (-20.3% to 161 thousand) offset gains in the West (6.1% to 333 thousand).