Multifamily permits down 23% nationally — but North Port, Cape Coral shine

As it continues to get harder to find housing that’s affordable, news comes that the number of permits to build apartment units has fallen 23% nationwide since the post-pandemic boom.

Redfin, an online real estate brokerage, has a new report out that says that over the past year developers obtained permits to build an average of 12.8 multifamily housing units for every 10,000 people in the U.S.

That, the report’s authors say, is down from an average of 16.7 during the pandemic building boom, and down 1.1% from an average of 13 in the years leading up to the pandemic.