Multifamily Permits Outpacing Single-Family

From 2021 to 2022, building permits for multifamily outperformed single-family permits.

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New analysis of Census Bureau data from Apartment List shows building permits are not evenly distributed between single-family and multifamily construction. Total permits slipped from 1.74 million in 2021 to 1.65 million in 2022, but building permits last year were higher than any level from 2007 to 2020.

Despite this, 2022 was the first year since 2009 that permits declined. Single-family permits stumbled from 2021 to 2022, down 13%. However, multifamily permitting increased by 9% in 2022.

Off the 2005 peak, single-family permits were down 42%, while multifamily permits are 44% above the 2005 data. Multifamily’s share of permits (41%) in 2022 was at its highest level since 1985, and multifamily permits accounted for 37% of all permits from 2010 to 2022. That’s up from 24% from 1990 to 2009. 

Digging further, between 1990 and 2009, multifamily permits for two to four units were 18% of the sector’s permits. From 2010 to 2022, two to four unit permits accounted for 8% of multifamily’s total permits.

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