Comparing Housing Permits Around the Sun Belt

It might not come as a surprise, but the Sun Belt cities permitting fewer new single-family homes are the Sun Belt cities permitting fewer new homes.

1 minute read

May 19, 2016, 9:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Housing Construction

Tom Grundy / Shutterstock

Andrew Keatts reports: "Across the Sun Belt last year, metro areas built new housing at wildly different rates, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau."

At the center of the article is a chart comparing the number of new houses permitted in the past year by cities in the Sun Belt.

According to Keatts, "One thing that immediately jumps out is the extent to which California cities lag behind their Sun Belt peers." 

The article also shares another chart showing the share of single-family houses among the building permits for the past year in those same cities.

Keatts notes that the cities producing the lowest share of single-family homes are also the same cities "building the fewest new homes relative to their population in the entire Sun Belt."

Tuesday, May 17, 2016 in The Urban Edge

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

October 28, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

A car drives through a puddle, making a large splash. Rain pours down.

California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour

If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.

October 28, 2026 - Grist

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

Mamdani behind a microphone, in front of a snowbank

Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge

A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.

1 hour ago - CNN

A road in north eastern Nebraska with power lines on either side, and grassy fields.

Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity

Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.

2 hours ago - Grist

People board a bus in Seattle.

Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion

Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.

3 hours ago - KOMO News

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.