Nov 04: In order to know where you're going, you must know where you’ve been, says an old adage. And a new UNLV housing supply rankings report is putting that proverb to practice by providing policymakers and the public with the nation’s first comprehensive look at how state-level new home permitting activity stacks up — and offering clues on local, state, or regional measures that could help drive down skyrocketing prices.
The special issue research paper — published in October by the university’s Lied Center for Real Estate — compiles U.S. Census Bureau building permit data from January to August 2026, compares it to previous years, and gives all 50 states and the District of Columbia both an overall and categorical rank in four areas:
- Scale. How much a state permits for the number of people who live there.
- Cost burden. How much it permits for the households already paying 30% or more of income on housing.
- Household growth. Whether its monthly permit pace is keeping up with the households it's projected to add.
- Momentum. Whether its permitting has risen or fallen since the same months of 2025 and 2023.
The report also shows each state’s mix — or lack thereof — of housing types, lending insight on potential opportunities for growth in condo, single-family, and multifamily units that could bolster opportunities for homeowners or even attract a new resident or economic development base.
While the public’s attention has historically focused on housing demand and prices, report co-authors Shawn McCoy and Nicholas Irwin say addressing the local issue of supply can have far greater implications for communities.
“Alleviating challenges related to the housing crisis really comes down to a city’s ability to actually build housing. People need to be able to afford their home, but if they can’t find a home to rent or buy at all there’s going to be a problem,” said McCoy, an economist and director of the Lied Center for Real Estate. “So, the question is what can we as a society do in this complicated market to try and get more housing built and put some downward pressure on the cost. This report doesn’t try to evaluate policy or ways to improve housing. Rather, it’s a progress report to give state and local policymakers a complete look at where they stack up against others, and where weak or strong spots exist.”
Irwin, also an economics professor and the Lied Center’s research director, added:
“The supply side will determine what housing or rent prices people will face in 18 to 24 months. And through political action, community members can encourage more development and put pressure on elected leaders to become accountable for rising housing prices. Because it is within city and state government officials’ control. They have a lot of significant tools in their chests, from streamlining permitting processes to casting a much wider net when it comes to zoning and beyond, to bend that price curve down by allowing more housing to be built.”
Report Highlights
The nation permitted 968,187 units from January through August 2026, up just 0.05% from a year earlier. That flat total hides states that are moving hard in opposite directions.
Nevada had the steepest drop in the country. Its permits per resident fell 29% in one year (12,662 units to 8,986), and it is one of only two states, with North Dakota, permitting fewer homes than its projected household growth: 1,123 permits a month against 1,245 new households. Nevada ranks 49th out of 51 locales evaluated.
Kansas is the quiet riser. It is only 19th on permits per resident but 5th overall: up 31% in a year and 56% since 2023, with 4.2 permits per projected new household. It also leads the nation in “missing middle housing” — two- to four-unit dwellings, such as condos or duplexes — at five times the national rate.
What gets built varies as much as how much. Mississippi's permits are 95% single-family, while 87% of D.C.'s and 74% of New York's are multifamily. South Dakota leads the nation in multifamily permits per resident, at more than twice the national rate. Four states (Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia) are projected to lose households and are still permitting.
The Sun Belt giants are cooling and the Northeast is filling the gap. Florida, Texas, and Arizona together permitted 28,538 fewer units than in the same months of 2025. All three Sun Belt states rank in the top 10 on permits per resident, but 43rd to 48th on momentum. Meanwhile, New York alone added 9,616 units (up 46%), contributing a rise in the national total by 474.
Low level, fast climb. Both Rhode Island and New York sit in the bottom 10 on permits per resident. But Rhode Island nearly doubled its permits per resident since 2023 (up 93%, from 775 units to 1,515), while New York is up 64%.
The affordability backdrop. In the median state, a homeowner would need 36% more income to get back to the same level of affordability as in 2018. Rhode Island needs 55%, and Montana and Maine need 50%. D.C. is the only place already below its 2018 affordability level.