US Building Permits Fall Less than Initially Thought

Building permits in the United States fell by 1% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.459 million in February 2025, against preliminary estimates that they would decrease by 1.2% to 1.456 million, final data showed.

Permits for buildings with five or more units dropped by 3.8% to 461 thousand, compared to the preliminary estimate of a 4.3% drop, while single-family permits rose by 0.4% to an annualized rate of 998 thousand, contrary to the initial estimate of a 0.2% decrease.

Among different regions, permits fell in the Northeast (-15.3% to 116 thousand), and the West (-6.1% to 295 thousand), but increased in the South (1% to 806 thousand) and the Midwest (8% to 242 thousand).