US building permits rose 4.4% month-over-month in April 2026, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.423 million, according to revised data. This was slightly below the earlier preliminary estimate of 1.442 million.
By category, multi-unit permits—including buildings with five or more units—jumped 17.2% to 491,000, while single-family permits edged down 1.6% to 881,000.
Regionally, permits increased in the South (up 4.6% to 748,000), the Midwest (up 12.3% to 238,000), and the Northeast (up 15% to 130,000), but declined in the West (down 5% to 307,000).