America needs to build more housing — and some states are outperforming.
Housing permits were “essentially flat” nationwide from January to August 2026 compared to the same months a year earlier, according to an October research report from the Lied Center for Real Estate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Yet, some states are ahead of the curve, issuing permits for new homes at rates above the national average of 2.83 units per 1,000 residents, according to the report. States like Idaho, South Carolina, and North Carolina all had permit rates more than double the national average.
Nicholas Irwin, coauthor of the report and research director at the Lied Center for Real Estate, said prospective homebuyers in states issuing more permits and building more housing will benefit, as more supply could put downward pressure on prices.
“That means hopefully, as wages continue to grow year over year, and the amount of building you’re doing is putting downward pressure on housing prices, housing naturally becomes more affordable,” he said.
Here are the top 10 states that issued the most permits per 1,000 residents from January to August 2026. These show the new housing supply that may come online throughout 2028 and 2029.
Overall, America is doing a “terrible job” building housing, Irwin said. Yet, some of the states that came out on top were unsurprising, especially those with abundant land and population growth.
“South Carolina, Idaho, North Carolina, Kansas, Nebraska — what a lot of these states have in common is they have a lot of land, and that is a key input into building,” he said. “Developers, they don’t build it in without some indication that demand is rising.”
Idaho had the most permits issued per 1,000 residents during this period, with 12,994 housing units approved from January through August 2026. That is 126% above the US rate, according to the report. Idaho is also ranked first in the country for the number of units permitted per 1,000 cost-burdened households, a measure that accounts for those who pay 30% or more of their income on housing, said the report.
Yet, while increased housing supply could help ease prices, that does not mean housing will immediately be more affordable for residents in Idaho. The report said that in the state, households would need to earn 47% more income to afford a typical home at the same affordability level as in 2018. Eight years ago, a median-priced home cost 28.7% of a median income — today, the median home costs 42.1% of a median income in the state.
Although these 10 states with high permit approval rates are seeing higher permitting rates, each state is unique with its own factors. Irwin said the rate of permits issued cannot be viewed in a vacuum — states must be analyzed holistically.
“There’s no one state that is sort of the perfect example, and there’s no one state that is perfectly problematic,” Irwin said. “It’s how much are these states growing, and what’s the rate of household formation in these states? How many folks in these states are cost-burdened?”
Meanwhile, South Carolina was the top-ranked state in the report’s overall housing supply pipeline rankings — performing well across four metrics, including the permit rate per 1,000 residents. The state with the second-largest number of permits in the country per resident issued 33,822 across the first eight months of 2026, 114% above the US rate — up 5% from the same period in 2025 and up 15% from 2023. Residents in the state need around 35% more income to return to 2018 housing affordability levels, less than in Idaho.
“Your Carolinas and Idaho are sort of leading the way,” Irwin said. “Some states clearly have prioritized it and have made meaningful changes when it came to encouraging more housing to be built.”
Tennessee rounded out the top 10. While it still finds itself approving permits above the national average, at 3.88 permits per 1,000 residents, it was ranked 18th overall across the report’s four measurement pillars. Although the state is permitting at a higher rate than 40 other states, its overall permitting is declining over time within the state. The report shows a loss of momentum, with Tennessee experiencing a 4.9% decrease in permits per resident from 2025 to 2026 and an 18.5% decrease from 2023 to 2026.
There are many approaches to “building this cake of housing,” Irwin said. “Every state’s different. Every state’s needs are different.”
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