Charted: Richmond is issuing a lot of homebuilding permits

Last week, we shared the depressing news that 66% of Virginia homeowners with mortgages have an interest rate below 4%, but here's some good news: Richmond is building.

What's happening: 71.4 new homebuilding permits were issued per 100,000 residents in Richmond in May 2023.

• Of the 931 total permits, 433 were issued for single-family homes, 14 for buildings with two to four units, and 484 for those with five or more units.
• That's per a new analysis of Census Bureau data from Axios' Kavya Beheraj and Alex Fitzpatrick.

Yes, but: Richmond's new homebuilding permits are down from the 82.6 in May 2020 — the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zoom out: Nationwide, 42.3 new homebuilding permits per 100,000 residents were issued in May 2023, up from 32.9 in May 2020.

• Some cities are seeing an especially significant explosion in new home construction as a post-pandemic reality takes hold.
• In Raleigh, for example, 138 new permits per 100,000 residents were issued in May 2023, up from 71.7 in May 2020.

The big picture: A post-pandemic nationwide housing shortage is keeping prices high.

• Recent estimates from Freddie Mac indicate the U.S. is short about 3.8 million units of housing, either for rent or purchase, Axios' Emily Peck reports.