Permit Value
The average declared construction value per housing unit authorized, across all structure types.
On this page
Not shown in the tool. The data behind this family is held and kept current, but it is not one of the measures the tool offers. Geography: permit-issuing place, county, metro area
The average declared construction value per housing unit authorized, across all structure types.
Alongside units and buildings, permit offices report a valuation. The Census Bureau defines it as "the estimated value of the residential structure as shown on the building permit. If no value is listed on the permit, we accept estimates from the permit official" (Building Permits Survey definitions).
It is a declared construction cost recorded at the moment of authorization, not a sale price and not an appraisal. It describes the kind of product a place is permitting: the tier of house or apartment being built, expressed in dollars per unit.
Values are as declared, in the dollars of the year the permit was issued. They are not adjusted for inflation, so long-run comparisons of the level within one place carry general construction cost inflation as well as any change in what is being built.
Metrics in this family#
Average permit value per unit
Total declared valuation divided by total units authorized, across every structure type.
Single-family facet
The same measure restricted to one-unit structures. It is presented in full as Single-Family Permit Value.
Multifamily facet
The same measure restricted to structures of two or more units. It is presented in full as Multifamily Permit Value.
Considerations#
Annual figures run from 2013 and monthly figures from January 2020, in both cases through the most recent release. Publication lags the present, and recent periods can move as late reports arrive.
The Bureau is explicit that valuation should be handled carefully: "the dollar volume of residential construction should be used with caution. Because of the nature of the building permit application process, valuations may frequently differ from the true cost of construction. Any attempt to use these figures for inter-area comparisons of construction volume must, at best, be made cautiously and with broad reservations." It also notes: "Detailed evidence is lacking as to how closely the valuation recorded for building permit purposes approximates the dollar amount of construction work involved" (methodology).
Practices vary between permit offices. Some jurisdictions record a full contractor estimate and some a schedule figure used to set permit fees, and nothing in the survey reconciles the two.
The blended average moves with the mix as much as with cost. Apartment units carry a lower declared value per unit than detached houses, so a place that shifts from single-family to multifamily construction records a falling average even if neither type of building became cheaper. For that reason the two facets above, read next to Multifamily Permit Share, say more than the blend does.
Where a permit office reports units but not valuation, the Bureau imputes the missing figure from average cost per unit for the same structure type and Census region, so some values reflect regional relationships rather than local filings.
Permits are published for places, counties and metro areas, not tracts. See how we combine geographies.
References#
- 1Building Permits Survey definitionshttps://www.census.gov/construction/bps/definitions.html
- 2Building Permits Survey Methodologyhttps://www.census.gov/construction/bps/methodology.html