Building Permit Pipeline by State
Permits filed today are houses listed in 12 to 18 months. This page ranks every state by trailing-12-month residential permits versus the preceding 12 months — a forward-looking inventory pressure signal. States above the line are pushing future supply into the market; states below are restricting it. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey via FRED.
Biggest pipeline expansion (12mo) Rhode Island +66.7% vs prior 12 months (2,055 permits)
Biggest pipeline contraction (12mo) Maryland -16.8% vs prior 12 months (13,710 permits)
U.S. trailing-12 permits (sum) 1,379,288 across 48 states with data
All states, ranked by 12-month permit growth
Higher = more new construction coming online. Pair with the Inventory Surplus column: a state with high permit growth and rising inventory is the one to watch — that's where price pressure flips from sellers to buyers first.
| # | State | Latest Month | Trailing 12mo | Preceding 12mo | 12mo Growth | Trajectory | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhode Island | 252 | 2,055 | 1,233 | +66.7% | Builder push | $535,700 |
| 2 | Kansas | 1,215 | 11,130 | 8,751 | +27.2% | Builder push | $302,100 |
| 3 | Connecticut | 240 | 6,887 | 5,765 | +19.5% | Builder push | $444,100 |
| 4 | New York | 3,707 | 44,270 | 38,214 | +15.8% | Builder push | $599,200 |
| 5 | Colorado | 3,467 | 34,297 | 30,500 | +12.4% | Steady growth | $604,300 |
| 6 | Wisconsin | 1,824 | 25,839 | 22,999 | +12.3% | Steady growth | $338,200 |
| 7 | Oregon | 1,422 | 15,653 | 14,112 | +10.9% | Steady growth | $507,600 |
| 8 | Illinois | 2,918 | 20,889 | 18,856 | +10.8% | Steady growth | $314,900 |
| 9 | California | 8,711 | 108,920 | 98,439 | +10.6% | Steady growth | $855,300 |
| 10 | Arkansas | 1,854 | 15,862 | 14,497 | +9.4% | Steady growth | $270,400 |
| 11 | Montana | 745 | 5,472 | 5,010 | +9.2% | Steady growth | $505,100 |
| 12 | Mississippi | 837 | 8,406 | 7,746 | +8.5% | Steady growth | $265,400 |
| 13 | Utah | 2,029 | 26,329 | 24,431 | +7.8% | Steady growth | $576,900 |
| 14 | West Virginia | 363 | 4,101 | 3,866 | +6.1% | Steady growth | $252,700 |
| 15 | Oklahoma | 1,109 | 14,570 | 13,748 | +6.0% | Steady growth | $257,000 |
| 16 | Delaware | 639 | 6,327 | 6,152 | +2.8% | Flat | $365,700 |
| 17 | North Dakota | 197 | 2,381 | 2,326 | +2.4% | Flat | $312,200 |
| 18 | Ohio | 2,552 | 31,884 | 31,251 | +2.0% | Flat | $263,500 |
| 19 | Wyoming | 164 | 2,021 | 1,990 | +1.6% | Flat | $440,800 |
| 20 | Kentucky | 1,123 | 14,663 | 14,474 | +1.3% | Flat | $277,100 |
| 21 | Indiana | 2,725 | 28,611 | 28,248 | +1.3% | Flat | $273,400 |
| 22 | New Hampshire | 300 | 4,677 | 4,639 | +0.8% | Flat | $500,100 |
| 23 | Washington | 2,783 | 35,417 | 35,209 | +0.6% | Flat | $644,400 |
| 24 | Idaho | 1,953 | 17,934 | 17,841 | +0.5% | Flat | $475,800 |
| 25 | Louisiana | 1,309 | 14,286 | 14,222 | +0.5% | Flat | $259,700 |
| 26 | Minnesota | 1,830 | 20,903 | 21,050 | -0.7% | Flat | $355,900 |
| 27 | Alabama | 1,937 | 19,827 | 20,137 | -1.5% | Flat | $300,300 |
| 28 | Maine | 393 | 6,173 | 6,291 | -1.9% | Flat | $390,300 |
| 29 | Iowa | 1,038 | 12,566 | 12,826 | -2.0% | Flat | $251,300 |
| 30 | South Carolina | 4,611 | 45,475 | 46,983 | -3.2% | Flat | $398,000 |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | 1,748 | 24,630 | 25,582 | -3.7% | Flat | $309,500 |
| 32 | Hawaii | 426 | 3,464 | 3,623 | -4.4% | Flat | $772,300 |
| 33 | Alaska | 118 | 920 | 977 | -5.8% | Pulling back | $399,800 |
| 34 | New Mexico | 981 | 7,836 | 8,413 | -6.9% | Pulling back | $379,100 |
| 35 | Tennessee | 3,570 | 42,006 | 45,136 | -6.9% | Pulling back | $393,400 |
| 36 | Nebraska | 686 | 10,093 | 10,876 | -7.2% | Pulling back | $304,300 |
| 37 | Vermont | 109 | 2,402 | 2,595 | -7.4% | Pulling back | $437,800 |
| 38 | Florida | 12,449 | 163,294 | 176,726 | -7.6% | Pulling back | $417,100 |
| 39 | Virginia | 3,088 | 32,240 | 34,933 | -7.7% | Pulling back | $464,200 |
| 40 | Missouri | 1,248 | 16,996 | 18,435 | -7.8% | Pulling back | $282,300 |
| 41 | Texas | 16,947 | 204,470 | 222,886 | -8.3% | Pulling back | $342,400 |
| 42 | Arizona | 4,133 | 49,720 | 54,811 | -9.3% | Pulling back | $453,000 |
| 43 | Georgia | 5,261 | 58,091 | 64,804 | -10.4% | Pulling back | $375,700 |
| 44 | New Jersey | 2,389 | 32,207 | 36,199 | -11.0% | Pulling back | $546,700 |
| 45 | North Carolina | 8,952 | 81,993 | 93,899 | -12.7% | Pulling back | $381,900 |
| 46 | Massachusetts | 730 | 11,180 | 12,984 | -13.9% | Pulling back | $645,500 |
| 47 | Nevada | 1,500 | 16,211 | 18,839 | -13.9% | Pulling back | $468,600 |
| 48 | Maryland | 1,150 | 13,710 | 16,484 | -16.8% | Construction freeze | $447,900 |
How to read this
- Permits ≠ starts ≠ completions. Roughly 95% of permitted units start within 18 months and ~80% complete within 24 months. Permit growth is the leading indicator; starts trail by 1–3 quarters; completions trail starts by 6–9 months.
- Multi-family dominates the volatility. A single 200-unit apartment permit can swing a small state's monthly count. The 12-month windowed comparison smooths this out.
- Watch the high-growth + high-inventory combo. States already with rising inventory plus a swelling permit pipeline are the most likely to see price pressure flip buyer-friendly. The trajectory column flags pipeline pile-up explicitly.
- "Construction freeze" states warrant the opposite read: tight forward supply will keep prices supported even if demand softens.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (single-family + multi-family combined) via FRED. Updated weekly. Inventory Surplus from Redfin Data Center.