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Building permits · Jun 2026

Housing markets with the steepest permit declines

Metro areas ranked by the steepest year-over-year fall in residential units authorized, comparing Jul 2025–Jun 2026 vs. Jul 2024–Jun 2025 — the same calendar months in both years, so seasonal swings cancel. Clovis NM leads, down 86.1%.

A permit is an authorization, not a housing start — some authorized units are never built. Only metro areas with 500+ units in the prior-year window are ranked, and one large prior-year approval that was not repeated can sink a mid-size metro.

One time window, top 100 of 296 metro areas

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10. Boone NC — −40.1% change9. Athens-Clarke County GA — −40.6% change8. Lancaster PA — −41.4% change7. Bloomington IN — −42.1% change6. Midland TX — −42.6% change5. Flagstaff AZ — −46.8% change4. Barnstable Town MA — −49.8% change3. Elizabethtown KY — −50.0% change2. Lake Havasu City-Kingman AZ — −57.2% change1. Clovis NM — −86.1% change
  1. 1.Clovis NM−86.1%
  2. 2.Lake Havasu City-Kingman AZ−57.2%
  3. 3.Elizabethtown KY−50.0%
  4. 4.Barnstable Town MA−49.8%
  5. 5.Flagstaff AZ−46.8%
  6. 6.Midland TX−42.6%
  7. 7.Bloomington IN−42.1%
  8. 8.Lancaster PA−41.4%
  9. 9.Athens-Clarke County GA−40.6%
  10. 10.Boone NC−40.1%
Housing markets with the steepest permit declines, 12 months to Jun 2026. Circle area is proportional to change. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
Metro Areas With the Steepest Permit Declines
#Metro areaChangeCurrent windowYear earlierUnit change
1Clovis NM−86.1%71509−438
2Lake Havasu City-Kingman AZ−57.2%1,0722,503−1,431
3Elizabethtown KY−50.0%5151,031−516
4Barnstable Town MA−49.8%5131,021−508
5Flagstaff AZ−46.8%454853−399
6Midland TX−42.6%9121,588−676
7Bloomington IN−42.1%7001,209−509
8Lancaster PA−41.4%1,0611,810−749
9Athens-Clarke County GA−40.6%1,0371,745−708
10Boone NC−40.1%306511−205
11Fayetteville NC−39.7%1,3342,212−878
12Lake Charles LA−38.7%6721,097−425
13Wilson NC−37.9%348560−212
14Vallejo CA−37.8%7601,221−461
15Johnson City TN−36.4%8591,350−491
16Lafayette-West Lafayette IN−34.8%2,1883,354−1,166
17Monticello NY−34.2%441670−229
18Prescott Valley-Prescott AZ−34.0%1,3782,089−711
19Akron OH−34.0%6951,053−358
20Eau Claire WI−33.7%8151,229−414
21Sherman-Denison TX−33.4%1,4972,249−752
22Trenton-Princeton NJ−32.2%1,0501,549−499
23Cape Coral-Fort Myers FL−32.0%10,84115,951−5,110
24York-Hanover PA−32.0%1,2021,767−565
25Idaho Falls ID−31.3%1,5882,310−722
26Albany-Schenectady-Troy NY−31.1%1,8152,636−821
27Kahului-Wailuku HI−31.1%623904−281
28Morehead City NC−30.6%399575−176
29Lakeland-Winter Haven FL−28.8%6,7879,534−2,747
30Heber UT−28.7%1,3981,962−564
31Port St. Lucie FL−28.6%4,0645,688−1,624
32Des Moines-West Des Moines IA−27.8%4,5846,353−1,769
33Spokane-Spokane Valley WA−27.7%2,9424,070−1,128
34Stockton-Lodi CA−27.2%2,4343,345−911
35Manchester-Nashua NH−27.2%683938−255
36Burlington NC−26.7%1,8762,558−682
37San Antonio-New Braunfels TX−26.4%9,88313,422−3,539
38Rapid City SD−26.1%1,0481,418−370
39Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos TX−25.7%23,36831,462−8,094
40Twin Falls ID−25.3%586784−198
41Moses Lake WA−24.3%401530−129
42Columbia MO−23.6%1,0141,327−313
43Elkhart-Goshen IN−23.3%435567−132
44Duluth MN-WI−22.7%657850−193
45Lebanon-Claremont NH-VT−22.6%700904−204
46Waterbury-Shelton CT−22.4%486626−140
47Baltimore-Columbia-Towson MD−21.6%5,5347,061−1,527
48Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford FL−21.3%21,24026,999−5,759
49St. Cloud MN−21.3%627797−170
50Panama City-Panama City Beach FL−21.3%2,1022,670−568
51Cedar Rapids IA−21.1%9151,159−244
52Augusta-Richmond County GA-SC−19.8%3,5394,412−873
53Lynchburg VA−19.4%9571,188−231
54Reno NV−19.3%3,2724,057−785
55Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia NC-SC−19.3%19,86624,604−4,738
56Morristown TN−19.0%527651−124
57Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux LA−18.9%524646−122
58Killeen-Temple TX−18.8%3,1033,822−719
59Seaford DE−18.7%3,5414,354−813
60Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach FL−18.6%4,4825,506−1,024
61Albuquerque NM−17.4%2,6363,190−554
62Sebring- FL−17.3%694839−145
63Cleveland TN−17.3%8971,084−187
64Bangor ME−16.8%457549−92
65Columbus OH−16.4%12,90115,441−2,540
66Show Low AZ−16.4%424507−83
67Punta Gorda FL−16.3%3,0733,671−598
68Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas NV−15.9%11,11113,205−2,094
69Bozeman MT−15.5%1,3701,621−251
70Beaumont-Port Arthur TX−15.3%8821,041−159
71Clarksville TN-KY−15.1%2,5993,062−463
72Charlottesville VA−15.1%1,2481,470−222
73Las Cruces NM−14.8%771905−134
74Ocala FL−14.8%5,6336,608−975
75Staunton-Stuarts Draft VA−14.7%745873−128
76Richmond VA−14.7%8,4939,952−1,459
77Lincoln NE−14.6%2,0022,345−343
78Clewiston FL−14.5%561656−95
79Topeka KS−14.4%563658−95
80Bellingham WA−14.0%1,0961,274−178
81Atlantic City-Hammonton NJ−13.8%1,4551,687−232
82Jefferson GA−13.6%1,6941,961−267
83Billings MT−13.5%1,1011,273−172
84Laredo TX−13.3%1,2611,454−193
85Homosassa Springs FL−13.1%1,9412,234−293
86Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal SC−13.0%2,7133,119−406
87Davenport-Moline-Rock Island IA-IL−12.9%619711−92
88Macon-Bibb County GA−12.9%479550−71
89Yuma AZ−12.9%1,0951,257−162
90Greenville-Anderson-Greer SC−12.8%7,9919,165−1,174
91Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford CT−12.8%1,4911,709−218
92McAllen-Edinburg-Mission TX−12.7%6,6127,577−965
93Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN−12.7%15,46017,716−2,256
94Mobile AL−12.4%1,2241,397−173
95Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX−12.3%59,21267,523−8,311
96Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX−11.8%61,97370,228−8,255
97Grand Junction CO−11.6%819926−107
98Statesboro GA−11.4%1,0071,137−130
99Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin FL−11.2%3,4323,867−435
100Jacksonville FL−10.4%12,44313,882−1,439

Top 100 of 296 ranked metro areas. Every row links to that geography’s full monthly permit history.

Other permit rankings

Metro areas with the most building permitsMetropolitan and micropolitan areas ranked by housing units authorized over the last 12 months.Counties with the most building permitsU.S. counties ranked by housing units authorized over the last 12 months.Building permits per capita by countyCounties ranked by units authorized per 1,000 residents — the housing-supply rate, not raw volume.Building permits per capita by metro areaMetro areas ranked by units authorized per 1,000 residents — the housing-supply rate.Fastest-growing housing markets by building permitsMetro areas with the largest year-over-year increase in permitted units, same window both years.Metro areas where multifamily is the biggest share of new housingMetro areas ranked by the share of permitted units in buildings with 5 or more units — share, not volume.

Go deeper

Every metro area →Monthly permit history for all metropolitan and micropolitan areas.Home sale prices →County median sale prices — pair supply with what the market is clearing at.Fair Market Rents →HUD rents by county, metro, and bedroom count — the rent side of the same market.

Building permits by state

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Housing markets with the steepest permit declines — FAQ

Which housing market is slowing fastest?+

Clovis NM shows the largest year-over-year decrease in permitted housing units, down 86.1% comparing Jul 2025–Jun 2026 vs. Jul 2024–Jun 2025 (Census Building Permits Survey).

Could a decline just mean a jurisdiction stopped reporting?+

Yes, and that is the main caveat. The Building Permits Survey imputes for some non-reporters, but a jurisdiction that goes silent can look like a collapse in permitting. Check the geography's own page for the monthly series before treating a decline as real.

Is one large project enough to move a metro area?+

In mid-size metros, yes. A single 300-unit apartment approval in the prior-year window can produce a large percentage decline the following year with nothing else changing. The 500-unit floor removes the markets too small to survive that arithmetic, but not the effect — the unit-change column shows the absolute size of the move.

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