Cedar Market Monitor · Urban Infill
Austin Permit Report: September 2026, Urban Infill
The Cedar Market Monitor is a monthly newsletter for the people building Austin's housing. We use public permit data to show where the market is heading: where new homes are going, how long approvals take, and who's building. This issue covers September 2026, with data through 5 November 2026.
Permit snapshot
What got permitted
Detached houses carried 106 of September’s 116 infill homes.
Over twelve months infill homes are down 7%, and the missing middle was 18% of them, down from 26% the year before. Homes, not permits.
Pipeline
10,179 homes permitted since January 2025 haven’t been finished yet.
That’s the supply still coming: 84% of the 12,167 homes permitted in that time. 79% are in apartment buildings (5+ homes), and five ZIPs hold 47% of them, led by 78702 (1,640) and 78758 (1,427). Most permits get built: 94% of homes permitted 2016–22 were finished.
Teardowns
Five ZIP codes had 64% of Austin’s 434 home teardowns in the last twelve months.
| ZIP | Oct 2025 – Sep 2026 | Year before |
|---|---|---|
| 1. 78704 | 65 | 73 |
| 2. 78757 | 61 | 71 |
| 3. 78702 | 53 | 51 |
| 4. 78703 | 50 | 52 |
| 5. 78745 | 47 | 56 |
Private whole-house demolitions inside the City of Austin full-purpose limits, one per lot per year: 23 ZIPs in all (460 teardowns Oct 2024 – Sep 2025).
Permit issue time
A single-family permit takes a median 63 days to issue.
| Building type | Permits | Median days | Excl. slowest 10% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family | 1,399 | 63 | 56 |
| 2–4 units | 190 | 118 | 103 |
| Multifamily & mixed use* | 113 | 746 | 483 |
Median days from application to issue, permits issued Oct 2025 – Sep 2026. The last column removes the slowest 10% to account for stalled applications. *44% of multifamily & mixed use permits were applied for more than three years earlier, so that figure mostly reflects a backlog clearing.
Where
Five ZIP codes carried 66% of September’s infill homes.
| ZIP | Homes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1. 78702 | 23 | 20% |
| 2. 78747 | 23 | 20% |
| 3. 78754 | 12 | 10% |
| 4. 78745 | 10 | 9% |
| 5. 78704 | 8 | 7% |
Fastest riser: 78754, from 0 to 55 infill homes in Jul–Sep 2026 against a year earlier. Only permits inside the City of Austin full-purpose limits are counted, so ZIPs that straddle the city line show the city’s part only.
Who’s building
Milestone Community Builders, LLC led with 84 homes in the last six months.
| Builder | Homes | Permits |
|---|---|---|
| Milestone Community Builders, LLC | 84 | 78 |
| Century Land Holdings II, LLC | 68 | 68 |
| New Home Co | 44 | 44 |
| Trophy Signature Homes | 43 | 43 |
| David Weekley Homes | 29 | 29 |
Infill homes permitted April – September 2026, out of 901. The permit holder is usually the general contractor rather than the developer, and one firm can appear under several names. 104 homes on 103 permits (12%) name no holder and are not ranked.
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