What is United States's building permits right now?

Building Permits in United States is 1,433 as of Jul 2026.

What are the historical extremes for United States's building permits?

The all-time high is 2,419 (Dec 1972); the record low is 513 (Mar 2009), over a series starting in 1960.

How often is this series updated?

Building Permits for United States is a monthly series; values refresh when new data is published or revised.

Where does this data come from?

See our methodology page for how we source and verify every series.

United States Building Permits

1,433▲ +59.00

Jul 2026 · Monthly

Building permits in the United States rose to 1,433 thousand units in July 2026, up from 1,374 thousand units in the previous month. The figure remains well below the all-time high of 2,419 thousand units recorded in December 1972, but far above the record low of 513 thousand units from March 2009. The series dates back to January 1960.

United States Building Permits, 1990–2026

Actual	Previous	Highest	Lowest	Dates	Frequency
1,433	1,374	2,419Dec 1972	513Mar 2009	1960 – 2026	Monthly

About this series

Building Permits in United States averaged 1,357 from 1960 until 2026, reaching an all-time high of 2,419 in Dec 1972 and a record low of 513 in Mar 2009. The series is reported monthly with history from 1960.

Building permits measure the number of new residential building permits issued in the United States each month, reported in thousands of units. The indicator is published monthly and the time series begins in January 1960, providing a long-term view of housing construction trends.

Source & methodology

We use primary economic sources for every country. See our methodology page for how we source and verify this data.

FAQ

United States Building Permits

About this series