Washington D.C.—When it comes to the housing market in 2021, the total number of single-family housing permits issued year-to-date nationwide reached 276,110 in March, up 25.3% over the March 2020 level of 220,416, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). In addition, gains were reported in all four regions of the country with the Midwest reporting an increase of 40%, followed by the Northeast (27.3%), the West (23.9%) and the South (23.1%), the NAHB said.
Multifamily housing permits were also robust across the country in March compared to last year with the South (22.1%), Northeast (21.3%), West (20.3%) and Midwest (13.5%) all showing double digit percentage gains, the association said.
According to the NAHB, of the top 10 metropolitan areas that issued the highest number of single-family permits, three were in Texas: Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (13,094); Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland (12,745); and Austin-Round Rock (6,189), and two were in Florida: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (5,219); and Jacksonville (3,391). The largest number of multifamily permits were issued in the New York-Newark-Jersey City area (9,222), with the second highest number in Austin-Round Rock (7,359).