Nashville Multifamily Permits Fall 34% as Sumner's 2025 Surge Fades
Nashville multifamily permits fell 34% in the first nine months of 2026, Census data show, and most of that drop traces to Sumner County's 2025 surge.
Franklin, Tenn. — October 28, 2026 — Nashville multifamily permits fell 34% in the first nine months of 2026, according to Census Bureau building permit data, and most of the decline traces to a single county. Permit-issuing offices in the Nashville metropolitan area authorized 2,908 units in buildings with five or more units from January through September, down from 4,401 in the same period of 2025.
Sumner County accounts for most of the gap. It authorized 1,424 units in five-or-more-unit buildings in the first nine months of 2025 and 340 in the same period of 2026; its year-to-date count through August had been zero. Excluding Sumner, the metro's year-to-date count of such units fell 13.7%, to 2,568 from 2,977.
Nashville multifamily permits by county
The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey counts new privately owned housing units authorized by building or zoning permits. Units in buildings with five or more units are the closest measure the survey offers of new apartment construction.
| Area | 2024 | 2025 | Jan.-Sept. 2025 | Jan.-Sept. 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davidson County | 4,138 | 2,876 | 2,101 | 1,484 |
| Rutherford County | 400 | 636 | 309 | 581 |
| Wilson County | 10 | 259 | 259 | 216 |
| Williamson County | 637 | 323 | 15 | 194 |
| Maury County | 60 | 90 | 74 | 83 |
| Dickson County | 5 | 198 | 198 | 0 |
| Sumner County | 124 | 1,424 | 1,424 | 340 |
| Nashville metro total | 5,410 | 5,827 | 4,401 | 2,908 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, county and CBSA files; estimates with imputation. Units in buildings with five or more units. The metro total covers the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin metropolitan area, including counties not shown. Year-to-date figures are as published in each year's September file.
For full-year 2025, the metro authorized 5,827 such units, up 7.7% from 5,410 in 2024. Davidson County's count fell 30.5% over the same period, to 2,876 units, while Sumner's jump offset the decline. Davidson still accounted for about 51% of the metro's year-to-date multifamily units in 2026, and Rutherford County's count rose to 581 units from 309.
Single-family permits moved less. The metro authorized 9,992 single-family units from January through September, down 5.0% from 10,518 a year earlier, after a full-year 2025 total of 13,267 that was 8.3% below 2024.
What permit data can and cannot show
A permit is the first of several stages the Census Bureau tracks in new residential construction, followed by starts, units under construction and completions. A unit can be authorized and not yet started, so permit counts point to potential future supply rather than homes ready to rent. The survey covers permit-issuing places, which the Census Bureau says account for more than 99% of privately owned residential buildings constructed.
Large buildings also make county figures swing from year to year. In Davidson County, the 4,138 units in five-or-more-unit buildings authorized in 2024 were in 41 buildings, so a few projects can move a county's total sharply, as Sumner and Dickson counties show in the table. Year-to-date files include late reports and corrections for earlier months, and the Census Bureau publishes final annual estimates the following year; final 2025 figures were released May 14, 2026.
What the permit figures mean for Tennessee rental investors
For an investor weighing a rental purchase, multifamily permits are one forward-looking gauge of how much new rental supply may reach a market. They do not say where units will be built within a county, what they will rent for or when they will open. Iron Hill Brief's report on the Nashville rental vacancy rate covers how much of the existing rental stock is empty, and its look at Nashville fair market rent covers HUD's rent benchmarks for the area.
Investors financing a rental on its income can review the overview of DSCR loans, which weigh a property's rent against its debt service; requirements vary by lender.
Working on a Tennessee rental? Talk with an Iron Hill loan advisor: text Ashley at 615-949-4780 or book a time here. Iron Hill Mortgage | NMLS #1946451.
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Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, CBSA ASCII files (beginning January 2024): 2024 and 2025 annual; January-September 2025 and January-September 2026 year-to-date (accessed Oct. 27, 2026): https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/CBSA%20(beginning%20Jan%202024)/
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, County ASCII files: 2024 and 2025 annual; January-September 2025 and January-September 2026 year-to-date (accessed Oct. 27, 2026): https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/County/
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, methodology and definitions (accessed Oct. 27, 2026): https://www.census.gov/construction/bps/methodology.html and https://www.census.gov/construction/bps/definitions.html