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Building permit

A local government's approval to build. Census counts the housing units authorized by permits each month.

The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey covers about 20,000 permit-issuing places. Census estimates that less than 2 percent of new homes are built in places that don't require a permit. Source 1 Source 2

A permit authorizes construction; it isn't a start. Census tracks units that are authorized but not yet started. Source 3

Related terms

Where it comes up

Sources

  1. Census Bureau: Building Permits Survey methodology (opens in a new tab)
  2. Census Bureau: Survey of Construction methodology (opens in a new tab)
  3. Census Bureau: Survey of Construction definitions (opens in a new tab)

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