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 +41.3% vs prior 12 months (2,012 permits)
Biggest pipeline contraction (12mo) Nevada -15.9% vs prior 12 months (15,318 permits)
U.S. trailing-12 permits (sum) 1,403,988 across 50 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 | 191 | 2,012 | 1,424 | +41.3% | Builder push | $536,900 |
| 2 | New York | 4,393 | 46,230 | 36,629 | +26.2% | Builder push | $620,500 |
| 3 | Kansas | 1,109 | 11,717 | 9,387 | +24.8% | Builder push | $316,300 |
| 4 | Oregon | 1,760 | 15,999 | 13,393 | +19.5% | Pipeline pile-up | $525,500 |
| 5 | Connecticut | 853 | 7,038 | 6,227 | +13.0% | Steady growth | $498,000 |
| 6 | Montana | 354 | 5,535 | 4,915 | +12.6% | Steady growth | $528,600 |
| 7 | Mississippi | 692 | 8,660 | 7,741 | +11.9% | Steady growth | $284,300 |
| 8 | Wisconsin | 2,398 | 25,912 | 23,331 | +11.1% | Steady growth | $361,600 |
| 9 | California | 10,013 | 109,950 | 99,132 | +10.9% | Steady growth | $887,400 |
| 10 | Alabama | 1,840 | 20,982 | 18,970 | +10.6% | Steady growth | $312,600 |
| 11 | New Hampshire | 676 | 4,999 | 4,543 | +10.0% | Steady growth | $537,900 |
| 12 | Washington | 3,539 | 38,751 | 35,489 | +9.2% | Steady growth | $651,800 |
| 13 | Utah | 1,878 | 25,776 | 23,848 | +8.1% | Steady growth | $560,200 |
| 14 | Arkansas | 1,150 | 15,744 | 14,773 | +6.6% | Steady growth | $275,500 |
| 15 | Massachusetts | 2,413 | 13,122 | 12,432 | +5.6% | Steady growth | $688,100 |
| 16 | Colorado | 2,374 | 33,501 | 32,114 | +4.3% | Flat | $617,000 |
| 17 | Minnesota | 2,430 | 21,927 | 21,117 | +3.8% | Flat | $372,300 |
| 18 | Michigan | 2,252 | 23,187 | 22,466 | +3.2% | Flat | $297,900 |
| 19 | West Virginia | 345 | 4,088 | 3,967 | +3.1% | Flat | $265,200 |
| 20 | Oklahoma | 1,528 | 14,616 | 14,203 | +2.9% | Flat | $264,600 |
| 21 | Louisiana | 1,222 | 14,490 | 14,212 | +2.0% | Flat | $269,000 |
| 22 | Virginia | 3,471 | 35,220 | 34,563 | +1.9% | Flat | $499,300 |
| 23 | Delaware | 667 | 6,369 | 6,269 | +1.6% | Flat | $384,500 |
| 24 | North Dakota | 294 | 2,274 | 2,243 | +1.4% | Flat | $311,200 |
| 25 | Vermont | 179 | 2,339 | 2,318 | +0.9% | Flat | $448,400 |
| 26 | Wyoming | 184 | 2,019 | 2,007 | +0.6% | Flat | $464,500 |
| 27 | Maine | 714 | 6,370 | 6,357 | +0.2% | Flat | $439,200 |
| 28 | Ohio | 2,404 | 31,701 | 32,237 | -1.7% | Flat | $282,600 |
| 29 | Pennsylvania | 2,545 | 24,904 | 25,353 | -1.8% | Flat | $330,200 |
| 30 | Georgia | 5,786 | 60,221 | 61,382 | -1.9% | Flat | $389,000 |
| 31 | South Carolina | 4,666 | 45,710 | 46,765 | -2.3% | Flat | $394,000 |
| 32 | Illinois | 1,472 | 19,356 | 20,118 | -3.8% | Flat | $337,900 |
| 33 | North Carolina | 8,393 | 86,007 | 90,284 | -4.7% | Flat | $397,600 |
| 34 | Idaho | 1,660 | 17,506 | 18,396 | -4.8% | Flat | $503,400 |
| 35 | Missouri | 2,066 | 17,675 | 18,606 | -5.0% | Pulling back | $297,500 |
| 36 | Kentucky | 1,066 | 13,789 | 14,566 | -5.3% | Pulling back | $284,400 |
| 37 | Tennessee | 3,430 | 41,756 | 44,116 | -5.3% | Pulling back | $413,200 |
| 38 | Indiana | 2,401 | 27,986 | 29,839 | -6.2% | Pulling back | $287,300 |
| 39 | Hawaii | 306 | 3,401 | 3,693 | -7.9% | Pulling back | $741,300 |
| 40 | South Dakota | 875 | 5,626 | 6,118 | -8.0% | Pulling back | $346,600 |
| 41 | New Jersey | 2,796 | 32,286 | 35,155 | -8.2% | Pulling back | $579,900 |
| 42 | Alaska | 73 | 839 | 916 | -8.4% | Pulling back | $427,100 |
| 43 | Iowa | 1,411 | 12,503 | 13,837 | -9.6% | Pulling back | $258,700 |
| 44 | Florida | 13,629 | 156,621 | 173,929 | -10.0% | Pulling back | $421,500 |
| 45 | Nebraska | 1,126 | 9,907 | 11,129 | -11.0% | Pulling back | $319,100 |
| 46 | New Mexico | 652 | 7,447 | 8,477 | -12.2% | Pulling back | $395,500 |
| 47 | Maryland | 1,028 | 13,469 | 15,332 | -12.2% | Pulling back | $477,300 |
| 48 | Texas | 16,550 | 194,491 | 224,184 | -13.2% | Pulling back | $356,100 |
| 49 | Arizona | 4,840 | 46,642 | 53,916 | -13.5% | Pulling back | $453,800 |
| 50 | Nevada | 1,769 | 15,318 | 18,211 | -15.9% | Construction freeze | $481,200 |
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. Permits are the supply still to come; for what is already listed, check months of supply by state.
- "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.