Multifamily Permit Value
The average declared construction value per housing unit authorized in buildings of two or more units.
Permit offices report a valuation alongside units and buildings. 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).
The multifamily categories are those the Bureau tabulates for "2 units, 3 and 4 units combined, and 5 or more unit structures." Dividing their combined declared valuation by their combined units gives a cost per apartment.
That figure distinguishes the kind of rental product coming to a market. Construction cost per unit separates workforce apartments from high-specification ones more cleanly than counts of units do, and it is the closest signal in this survey to the rent the new supply will need to charge.
Values are as declared, in the dollars of the year the permit was issued, and are not adjusted for inflation.
Metrics in this family#
Multifamily permit value
levelDeclared valuation for structures of two or more units divided by the units authorized in them. Because multifamily filings are infrequent and large, the figure is read across a window of recent years rather than a single year.
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.
Declared valuation is not market value. The Bureau states that "valuations may frequently differ from the true cost of construction," and adds: "Detailed evidence is lacking as to how closely the valuation recorded for building permit purposes approximates the dollar amount of construction work involved" (methodology). Treat this as a cost proxy for comparing places, not as a price or a rent.
The measure has no meaning where nothing multifamily was authorized, which is most places in most periods. Where it does exist, it can rest on a single project, and one unusual building will set the figure for a place for years.
The category spans a wide range. A duplex and a 300-unit tower with structured parking are both in scope, and cost per unit differs systematically between them, so this partly reflects which multifamily form a place is building. Read it next to Large Multifamily Permit Share.
Reporting practice differs between permit offices. Some record a contractor's estimate and others a standard figure used to set permit fees. Where an office reports units but no valuation, the Bureau imputes the value from the average cost per unit for the same structure type and Census region.
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