← All posts · Q1 2026 report · North Carolina dashboard

North Carolina new construction report — Q1 2026

The bottom line

North Carolina's residential permit volume is up 13% quarter-on-quarter — a strong signal of demand acceleration. Trade contractors and suppliers serving this state should expect builder accounts to scale upward in the next 12 months. The state's top markets are visibly heating up.

Top movers this quarter

The North Carolina counties with the biggest quarter-on-quarter permit-volume change. Click any county for the full local market dashboard.

1. Catawba County: 670 permits this quarter (+346 vs 324 prior quarter).
2. Brunswick County: 1,209 permits this quarter (+226 vs 983 prior quarter).
3. Iredell County: 391 permits this quarter (+159 vs 232 prior quarter).
4. Wake County: 1,810 permits this quarter (-124 vs 1,934 prior quarter).
5. Mecklenburg County: 190 permits this quarter (-122 vs 312 prior quarter).
6. Alamance County: 434 permits this quarter (+120 vs 314 prior quarter).

Most-active builders

Licensed home builders in North Carolina ranked by Q1 2026 permit count. Click any name for the builder's full profile, permit history, and county footprint.

Per-permit builder attribution for North Carolina is limited this quarter. Per-permit feeds outside Florida are added quarterly — North Carolina will deepen as we add county portals.

What this means for trade operators

If you're an LBM operator, roofing contractor, HVAC company, plumber, concrete crew, or any trade serving North Carolina's new single-family construction market, this quarter's data points to a few practical actions:

• If you're not actively quoting the top 6 builders listed above, that's the call list for this week.
• If your service area covers any of the top-mover counties, you have leverage right now — builders there are scaling and looking for capacity.
• If you're considering expansion into North Carolina, the North Carolina dashboard has all high-volume counties scored against the trade you select. Drive-time analysis from your existing yard tells you which counties are reachable today.

This report is automatically refreshed every quarter from Census Bureau Building Permits Survey data plus county public records. The methodology is documented in our Census BPS data explainer.