US building permits declined by 10.8% month-on-month in March 2026 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.372 million, the lowest level since August 2025. This followed an 11% increase in February.
By type of structure, permits for buildings with five or more units fell 23.5% to an annualized 427,000, while single-family permits decreased 3.8% to 895,000.
Regionally, permits were down across all major areas: the Northeast (-29% to 115,000), the Midwest (-2.3% to 214,000), the South (-7.7% to 717,000), and the West (-14.2% to 326,000).
