United States Building Permits

Last Release

Oct 31, 2023

Actual

1,498

Units In

Thousand

1,471

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

N/A

Time to Release

N/A

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
2,419 Dec 1972	513 Mar 2009	1,369.87 Thousand	1960-2023	U.S. Census Bureau

Building Permits refer to the approvals given by a local jurisdictions before the construction of a new or existing building can legally occur. Not all areas of the United States require a permit for construction.

Latest Updates

Building permits in the United States rose by 1.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.498 million in October 2023, compared to the preliminary estimate of 1.487 million, revised data showed. However, it stayed below the 10-month high of 1.541 million seen in August, due to ongoing constraints in the construction market resulting from a substantial shortage of homes, influenced by rapid increases in interest rates and construction expenses. Approvals for the volatile multi-segment increased by 4.1% to a rate of 529 thousand, rebounding from September's three-year low, while single-family authorizations rose by 0.6% to 969 thousand, a peak since May 2022. Across the various US regions, there were increases in permits in the South (4.2% to 852 thousand) and the Northeast (17.4% to 128 thousand), while declines were reported in the West (-2% to 348 thousand) and the Midwest (-10.1% to 170 thousand).