United States building permits fall in September 2026

Residential building permits in the United States totalled 115,000 in September 2026, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That compares with 118,300 in August 2026, a decline of 2.8% on the previous month, based on Housing Market Group calculations from the Census Bureau figures. Permits are granted before construction starts, so the count offers an early indication of how much new housing builders are preparing to put up.

The September figure continues a softer pattern that emerged after the middle of the year. Census Bureau data show 120,500 permits in May 2026, followed by a rise to 130,500 in June 2026. The total then eased to 128,900 in July 2026 before dropping to 118,300 in August 2026. At 115,000, the September reading sits below the levels recorded in June and July and is also under the May figure.

The comparison with a year earlier points in the same direction. In September 2025 the Census Bureau recorded 120,000 residential building permits. Against that level, the September 2026 total is 4.2% lower, according to Housing Market Group calculations from Census Bureau figures. The annual decline is therefore somewhat larger than the 2.8% fall seen between August and September 2026.

Taken together, the monthly and annual changes show permit activity in September 2026 running below both the recent summer months and the same month of 2025. The earlier rise into June means the latest figures describe a pullback from a higher point rather than a steady slide across the whole period covered here.

Monthly permit counts can move for a range of reasons, including seasonal building patterns and the timing of local approvals, so a single month is best read alongside the months before it and the year-earlier figure, as set out above. The national total does not show how activity is divided among states or metropolitan areas, so it is not possible from these figures to say where the September decline was concentrated. Housing Market Group platform data on search demand and listings are not included in this comparison, and no figures for other countries are available here to set the U.S. reading in an international context.