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By Giulia Carbonaro
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South Carolina, the state with the fastest-growing population in the country, is also the one that is building the most new homes, according to a new analysis by University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) researchers.
From January to August, the state permitted 33,822 housing units, 114 percent above the U.S. rate per resident. Not only was South Carolina doing much better than the national average, but the state was outdoing itself, permitting more new units than it had in previous years. In the first eight months of the year, it signed off 5 percent more new housing units than in the same months in 2025 (32,179) and 11 percent more than it was in the same months in 2023 (29,520), right after the pandemic homebuying frenzy reached its peak and imploded due to the sudden spike in mortgage rates.
By comparison, the nation permitted 968,187 units in the first eight months of the year, up just 0.05 percent from a year earlier. This flat total hides states that are moving hard in the opposite directions, including those responsible for an ill-fated construction boom in the years following the start of the pandemic.
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Why Is New Housing Construction So Important?
The only way out of the housing affordability crisis that has overwhelmed the country for the past few years is to build enough homes to fix the existing shortage, according to experts.
This is clear to lawmakers as well, no matter which side of the political spectrum they belong to. Earlier this year, the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act addressed this shortage, trying to boost new construction by incentivizing reforms such as streamlined permitting, density bonuses, and zoning changes.
The amount of new homes that would need to be added to the market is enormous, suggesting that change will not happen quickly. While estimates vary, White House economists concluded earlier this year that the U.S. is short of 10 million homes.
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While federal legislation can try to spur reform, it is largely up to states and cities to enact reform aimed at boosting construction. And the sooner this starts, the better.
“Alleviating challenges related to the housing crisis really comes down to a city’s ability to actually build housing. People need to be able to afford their home, but if they can’t find a home to rent or buy at all there’s going to be a problem,” Shawn McCoy, an economist and co-author of the UNLV study, said in a statement. “So, the question is what can we as a society do in this complicated market to try and get more housing built and put some downward pressure on the cost.”
The homes that are being built today “will determine what housing or rent prices people will face in 18 to 24 months,” co-author Nicholas Irwin added.
Which States Show the Most Promise in Filling Their Housing Gap?
The UNLV study compiles U.S. Census Bureau building permit data from January to August, compares it to previous years, and ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia considering four factors.
One: scale, or how much a state permits for the number of people who live there. Two: cost burden, or how much a state permits for the households already paying 30 percent or more of income on housing—those considered “cost-burdened.” Three: household growth, or whether its monthly permit pace is keeping up with the households it is projected to add. And four: momentum, which considers whether a state’s permitting has risen or fallen since the same months of 2025 and 2023.
South Carolina ranked first overall, boasting the highest rate of new construction per 1,000 residents, at 6.07 units—more than twice the national rate of 2.83. These include enough affordable homes to meet the needs of cost-burdened households.
The median home sold for $350,000 in August, about the same as a year earlier and below the national average. The state is also definitely permitting enough new homes to meet the demand of its growing population: South Carolina averaged 4,228 permits a month, 1,497 more than the roughly 2,731 new households a month it is projected to add through 2027, according to researchers.
Idaho and North Carolina followed, permitting 6.40 and 5.77 units per 1,000 residents, respectively, between January and August. Idaho permitted 12,994 housing units in total, 126 percent above the U.S. rate per resident and up 6 percent from the same months in 2025 (12,297). It averaged 1,624 permits a month, 451 more than the roughly 1,173 new households a month it is projected to add through 2027.
North Carolina permitted 64,578 housing units within the same period, 104 percent above the U.S. rate per resident and up 5 percent from the same months a year earlier. It averaged 8,072 permits a month, 3,432 more than the roughly 4,640 new households a month it is projected to add through 2027.
Both ranked in the top three permits per cost-burdened households. The median home in Idaho sold for $511,515 in August, up 8 percent from a year earlier, and in North Carolina for $375,000, about the same as in August 2025.
Rounding up the top ten are South Dakota (4.82 units per 1,000 residents), Kansas (3.05), Nebraska (3.54), Utah (4.56), Virginia (3.21), Delaware (4.31) and Maine (3.45).
Which States Are Lagging Behind?
In terms of new housing pipeline, Connecticut is lagging behind every other state and the District of Columbia. The state permitted 3,799 housing units from January through August, 64 percent below the U.S. rate per resident. That is also down 18 percent from the same months of 2025 (4,617 units) and down 8 percent from 2023 (4,134).
Homes in Connecticut remain expensive and getting ever more so, with the median home sold for $475,000 in August, up 8 percent from a year earlier.
Alaska and Nevada also ranked at the very bottom. The Last Frontier permitted 528 housing units from January through August, 75 percent below the U.S. rate per resident. That is down 8 percent from the same months of 2025 (576 units) and down 12 percent from 2023 (600). The median home in the state sold for $415,250 in August, up 3 percent from a year earlier.
The Silver State was not only at the bottom, but reported the steepest drop in permits in the country between January and August, as its housing supply pipeline is shrinking. Permits per resident in the state fell 29 percent from 2025 (12,662 units to 8,986), and it is one of only two states, with North Dakota, permitting fewer homes than its projected household growth: 1,123 permits a month against 1,245 new households. The median home sold for $469,995 in August, up 1 percent from a year earlier.
Rounding up the bottom ten were North Dakota (1.97 units per 1,000 residents), Maryland (1.51), Vermont (1.68), Massachusetts (1.35), New Jersey (2.06), Pennsylvania (1.30), and Michigan (1.43).
A Shifting Market: Sun Belt Cools While Northeast Fills the Gap
Somewhere in the middle of the ranking are the states that built the most homes since the pandemic: Florida and Texas. Facing a glut of unsold inventory in recent years, mainly due to the ongoing affordability challenges, developers in these states have started pushing the brakes on new construction. At 109,323, Florida permitted 11 percent fewer units January through August than it did last year in the same period, though they were still 64 percent above the U.S. rate per resident. Texas permitted 134,298 units, down 8 percent from a year earlier though still 50 percent above the U.S. rate per resident.
Texas (ranking as 25th), Florida (26th), and Arizona (27th) together permitted 28,538 fewer units than in the same months of 2025. All three Sun Belt states rank in the top 10 on permits per resident, but 43rd to 48th on momentum.
Meanwhile, New York—a state that has traditionally struggled to build new homes, especially affordable ones—permitted 30,494 housing units between January and August, up 46 percent from the same months in 2025, contributing a rise in the national total by 474. The levels of new permits per resident remain low in the state, with the state ranking toward the bottom of UNLV list—but it is up 64 percent since 2023, showing long-term improvement.
Researchers believe that where there is a will there is a way—and local leaders can spearhead the change the country needs to build the homes it needs, taking example from what is happening in the most active part of the nation.
“Through political action, community members can encourage more development and put pressure on elected leaders to become accountable for rising housing prices. Because it is within city and state government officials’ control,” Irwin said, adding: “They have a lot of significant tools in their chests, from streamlining permitting processes to casting a much wider net when it comes to zoning and beyond, to bend that price curve down by allowing more housing to be built.”
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Cristina Diciu.
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