The explosion of home values during and after the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened housing affordability across the U.S. In May and June 2024, housing affordability stood at its lowest point since 2006, as measured by the Atlanta Fed’s Home Ownership Affordability Monitor. One possible way to improve housing affordability is to increase the supply of housing. The presence of low housing inventory, low vacancy rates and high demand for homes contributes to rising property values, which are signals that more homes need to be built. In this blog post, we examine recent patterns in the authorization of new housing construction.