US Apartment Building Permits Fall 23 Percent From Pandemic Boom

The median asking rent rose 1.7 percent year over year in July. One expert said the pool of new apartments is shrinking while demand for rentals is growing.

Construction of a mixed-use apartment complex in Los Angeles on Aug. 20, 2024. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Redfin reported on Aug. 15 that building permits for apartment construction in the United States declined by 23.1 percent since the COVID-19 pandemic period, ranging from 2020 to 2023.

Using data from the Census Bureau, Redfin’s analysis shows that developers across the United States had previously obtained permits to build an average of 12.8 multi-family housing units for every 10,000 people over the past year (between July 2024 and June 2025). That number represents a drop from the average 16.7 units per 10,000 reported during the pandemic period.

North Port, Florida, and Austin, Texas, issued more multi-family permits than any other metro area, while Stockton and Bakersfield, California, issued the fewest.

The Redfin report indicated that because so many people in the United States relocated during the pandemic years, builders responded with construction of additional housing, particularly in the Sun Belt states, including Texas and Florida.

The number of housing units hit a 50-year high in 2024, causing some rents to fall and resulting in landlords facing challenges in filling vacancies.

“Falling rents and high borrowing costs for builders made building less attractive, which is why we’re now seeing a decline in permits,” the report stated.

However, Redfin noted that in July, the median asking rent nationwide rose 1.7 percent year over year.

“Asking rents may now be ticking up because the pool of new apartments renters have to choose from is shrinking while demand for rentals is growing,” Sheharyar Bokhari, Redfin senior economist, said in the report.

Leading the cities where multi-family construction is on the rise, North Port issued permits to build 65 multi-family units for every 10,000 people over the past year. That represents the highest level among the 78 U.S. metro areas that Redfin analyzed. All metropolitan areas included in the analysis have populations of at least 750,000.

In Austin, 63.6 permits were issued for every 10,000 people, followed by Cape Coral, Florida; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Columbus, Ohio.

Conversely, Stockton, California, issued zero multi-family permits in the past year, followed by Bakersfield, California; El Paso, Texas; New Orleans; and Providence, Rhode Island.

The report indicated that more than half of the metro areas have experienced a drop in multi-family construction permits. Other notable metros where apartment construction has decreased include San Jose, California; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Rochester, New York; and Philadelphia.

In its June 2025 report, the National Association of Home Builders also announced a year-over-year decline in the number of permits for single-family home construction. The report showed a 4.7 percent drop from the April 2024 level of 366,124 nationwide.

Year to date, ending in April, single-family permits declined in three out of the four regions, with the South posting the largest drop, 6.1 percent. The West followed with a 5.6 percent decrease, and the Midwest was lower by 0.6 percent. Only the Northeast registered a gain, increasing by 5.7 percent.

Texas issued the most single-family permits, at 52,654, over the first four months of 2025—a decline of 7.4 percent from the same period in 2024. Florida took the second spot, and North Carolina third. However, building permits for both of those states still suffered declines from the same period in 2024.