Residential Permits Higher in 2001

Unit-permit totals for six of the seven regions in the South, West, and Midwest quadrants of the country were higher during 2001 than in 2000. The one exception - the East South Central states - was pulled lower by steep declines in permit volume recorded by Mississippi (-14.1%), Kentucky (-4.9%) and smaller losses (less than 3%) in Alabama and Tennessee. On the other hand, both subregions in the Northeast recorded fewer residential permits issued during 2001 than in 2000.

The number of residential units permitted for construction in 2001 was greater than in 2000 in 30 states. Among the 20 states recording losses, the largest percentage decreases were in Mississippi, New Jersey (-10.9%), Rhode Island (-8.9%), Nebraska (-8.3%), Michigan (-7.8%) and South Carolina (-6.8%).

These losses were slightly more than offset by double-digit percentage gains in Alaska (+38.6%), North Dakota (+26.0%), Wyoming (+22.7%), Arkansas (+20.1%), Delaware (+15.2%), New Mexico (+14.1%), Louisiana (+11.6%), Nevada (+11.1%), Idaho (+11.1%) and West Virginia (+10.8%). Most of these states are relatively small in population, so permit volume for all 10 combined accounted for less than 7% of the U.S. total during 2001.

It's much more significant that permit totals also rose last year in two of the nation's three highest-volume home building states. More permits were issued in Florida (164,656 for single-family and multifamily units combined) than anywhere else in the country during 2001, and volume was up 7.8% from the total for 2000. The second-largest-volume state - Texas - recorded 7.3% more building permits last year than throughout 2000. In California, slightly fewer (-0.3%) permits were issued for new residential construction last year than during 2000.