Permits for building single family homes in August 2009

Rounding out the top 5 according to figures by the Commerce Department were North Carolina (2,394), California (2,112) and Virginia (1,453).

However, this was not the case in 2005 during the boom days of the housing market.

The top 5 in August 2005 were Florida (20,044), Texas (15,680), California (12,525), Georgia (9,053) and North Carolina (8,251).

The contrast in the figures between 2005 and 2009 are quite dramatic.

For instance, although the first ranked state in August 2005 had more than 3 times the amount of single fanily building permits than in August 2009, the second ranked state had more than 6 times the amount of single-family building permits for the month.

Florida and California have fewer building permits

Florida and California have more than 80 percent fewer single family building permits than in 2004, while the figure for North Carolina is down 70 percent and Georgia down 85 percent.

The total number of single family building permits approved throughout the U.S. was 42,201 in August 2009 and 159,349 in August 2005.