US Building Permits Fall to 7-Month Low

US building permits fell 10.8% month-on-month in March 2026, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.372 million, the lowest since August 2025. In February, building permits rose 11%. Permits for buildings with five or more units dropped by 23.5% to an annualized rate of 427 thousand, while single-family permits decreased by 3.8% to 895 Thousand. Regionally, permits declined in the Northeast (-29% to 115 thousand), the Midwest (-2.3% to 214 thousand), in the South (-7.7% to 717 thousand), and in the West (-14.2% to 326 thousand). less

US building permits fell 4.7% month-on-month in January 2026, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.386 million, the lowest since August 2025, though the decline was less severe than the initial 5.4% estimate. Multi-unit permits plunged 12.4% to 458,000, while single-family permits edged down 0.6% to 876,000. Regionally, permits fell sharply in the West (-13.8% to 312,000), Northeast (-8.4% to 153,000), and South (-2.9% to 695,000), but rose 7.6% in the Midwest to 226,000.

US building permits fell 5.4% month-on-month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.376 million in January 2026, missing market expectations of 1.41 million, preliminary estimates showed. This marked the lowest figure since August 2025, as permits for buildings with five or more units slumped 13.4% from a month earlier to 453,000, while single-family permits fell 0.9% to 873,000. Among regions, permits declined in the Northeast (-9.6% to 151,000), South (-3.5% to 691,000), and the West (-15.7% to 305,000), while it rose in the Midwest (9% to 229,000).