US Census Bureau construction permit data

My post on the bull run of Texas housing construction permits prompted a dive into U.S. Census Bureau permit data from the past quarter century.

OVERALL CONSTRUCTION PERMIT TRENDS

1. The housing crisis hangover has been a very long one as we just surpassed the annual construction permit volume from 1995 this past year.
2. If not for the rise of multifamily permits, we'd still be in a hole. Unit permits for 5+ builds accounted for over a third of all permits for the past eight years, up from around a fifth pre-crisis.

SHARE OF PERMITS BY REGION

Three U.S. Census Bureau regions have seen the most change in share of housing construction permits over the past quarter century:

1. East North Central (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin) has been nearly halved;
2. West South Central (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas) has powered ahead; and
3. Mid Atlantic (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania) has gained materially.

TOTAL PERMITS BY TOP STATES

The top states' share of permits has steadily increased since 1995, rising from under a quarter to over a third of total construction permits. Texas alone accounted for 15% of permits in 2019.