Study Finds U.S. Housing Permits Drag Out Construction Across Cities
A new economics paper shows permitting delays lengthen building times, especially in high-cost cities like San Francisco, while faster approvals occur in places such as Raleigh and Indianapolis.
A working paper by Leonardo D’Amico, Evan Soltas and Audrey Wang compiled a dataset of 1.1 million permits covering 2.7 million housing units between 2000 and 2025 to compare construction timelines across 60 U.S. metros. The analysis shows permitting times have more than doubled, with a standard multifamily project taking 0.6 years in 2000 but 1.5 years in 2023, and single-family approvals rising from 1.6 months to 4.9 months.
Cities like Raleigh and Indianapolis can complete projects in months, whereas San Francisco’s approvals exceed a year, inflating costs and discouraging developers. The authors note longer permits are linked to higher housing prices and reduced building rates, though they do not prove causation. Factors such as stringent environmental reviews and tightening zoning codes are suggested as contributors, but the paper calls for further research to pinpoint drivers. The findings highlight a national slowdown in permitting that hampers efforts to address the housing shortage.
Why it matters
Longer permit times raise housing costs and limit new home supply, worsening the national affordability crisis.
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