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Permit-issuing place

Sussex County

Sussex County · Seaford, DE · Delaware

Permits through August 2026Yearly permits since 1995Sussex County index 1983–2025
FHFA house price index for Sussex County, which contains Sussex County, 1983 to 2025Recession 1990–91Recession 2001Recession 2007–09Recession 202002004006008001,0001990200020102020United States2025: 775
Sussex County (100 = first year)United States, rebased to the same startNBER recession
House prices are indexed by county, not by city: this is Sussex County's FHFA index, with the national index rebased to the same start.

Census Bureau notes: building permit figures cover new privately owned housing units authorised by permit-issuing places; permits do not mean the units were started or completed, and places that report less often than monthly are imputed in monthly totals. FHFA notes: The FHFA HPI is a broad measure of the movement of single-family house prices. The FHFA HPI is a weighted, repeat-sales index, meaning that it measures average price changes in repeat sales or refinancings on the same properties.

Sussex County, Delaware (Sussex County), authorised 3,621 housing units through building permits in the 12 months to August 2026, −14.7% on the previous 12 months.

3,273 of those units were single-family houses (90%), 52 were in two- to four-unit buildings and 296 in buildings of five or more units.

Since 1995 the place has authorised 84,512 units, with the busiest year 2021 (4,805 units). Sussex County's FHFA house price index rose +85.1% over the ten years to 2025.

3,621units permitted, 12 months to August 2026−14.7% on the previous 12 months
3,273single-family units90% of the total
296units in 5+ unit buildings8% of the total
—units per 1,000 residentsSussex County 13.1 · Delaware 6.1

Permits by month and structure type

Housing units authorised in Sussex County by month, latest 24 months0200400600Sep 2024: 294 units (284 single-family, 10 in multi-unit buildings)Sep 2024Oct 2024: 410 units (346 single-family, 64 in multi-unit buildings)Nov 2024: 304 units (292 single-family, 12 in multi-unit buildings)Dec 2024: 357 units (281 single-family, 76 in multi-unit buildings)Dec 2024Jan 2025: 324 units (312 single-family, 12 in multi-unit buildings)Feb 2025: 500 units (352 single-family, 148 in multi-unit buildings)Mar 2025: 354 units (326 single-family, 28 in multi-unit buildings)Mar 2025Apr 2025: 324 units (278 single-family, 46 in multi-unit buildings)May 2025: 406 units (268 single-family, 138 in multi-unit buildings)Jun 2025: 317 units (299 single-family, 18 in multi-unit buildings)Jun 2025Jul 2025: 387 units (269 single-family, 118 in multi-unit buildings)Aug 2025: 268 units (248 single-family, 20 in multi-unit buildings)Sep 2025: 247 units (235 single-family, 12 in multi-unit buildings)Sep 2025Oct 2025: 241 units (229 single-family, 12 in multi-unit buildings)Nov 2025: 244 units (221 single-family, 23 in multi-unit buildings)Dec 2025: 273 units (227 single-family, 46 in multi-unit buildings)Dec 2025Jan 2026: 260 units (222 single-family, 38 in multi-unit buildings)Feb 2026: 225 units (215 single-family, 10 in multi-unit buildings)Mar 2026: 331 units (297 single-family, 34 in multi-unit buildings)Mar 2026Apr 2026: 276 units (276 single-family, 0 in multi-unit buildings)May 2026: 363 units (345 single-family, 18 in multi-unit buildings)Jun 2026: 426 units (362 single-family, 64 in multi-unit buildings)Jun 2026Jul 2026: 420 units (329 single-family, 91 in multi-unit buildings)Aug 2026: 315 units (315 single-family, 0 in multi-unit buildings)

Housing units authorised in Sussex County by month, latest 24 monthssingle-family2+ unit buildings

Units, 12 months to August 2026Sussex CountySussex CountyDelawareUnited States
All housing units3,6213,6216,4771,418,086
Single-family (1 unit)3,273 (90%)3,273 (90%)5,399 (83%)888,241 (63%)
2 units52527834,814
3–4 units00417,298
5 or more units296 (8%)296 (8%)996 (15%)477,733 (34%)
Units per 1,000 residents—13.16.14.1
Change on previous 12 months−14.7%−14.7%+2.0%−0.1%

Permits by year since 1995

Housing units authorised in Sussex County by year, 1995–202502,0004,0006,0001995: 1,319 units (1,280 single-family, 39 in multi-unit buildings)19951996: 1,491 units (1,430 single-family, 61 in multi-unit buildings)1997: 1,791 units (1,377 single-family, 414 in multi-unit buildings)1998: 1,817 units (1,647 single-family, 170 in multi-unit buildings)1999: 1,844 units (1,844 single-family, 0 in multi-unit buildings)2000: 1,422 units (1,422 single-family, 0 in multi-unit buildings)20002001: 1,930 units (1,825 single-family, 105 in multi-unit buildings)2002: 2,624 units (2,510 single-family, 114 in multi-unit buildings)2003: 3,184 units (3,184 single-family, 0 in multi-unit buildings)2004: 3,477 units (3,477 single-family, 0 in multi-unit buildings)2005: 4,262 units (3,200 single-family, 1,062 in multi-unit buildings)20052006: 3,073 units (2,121 single-family, 952 in multi-unit buildings)2007: 2,347 units (1,903 single-family, 444 in multi-unit buildings)2008: 1,536 units (1,215 single-family, 321 in multi-unit buildings)2009: 1,555 units (1,318 single-family, 237 in multi-unit buildings)2010: 1,554 units (1,334 single-family, 220 in multi-unit buildings)20102011: 1,579 units (1,311 single-family, 268 in multi-unit buildings)2012: 2,004 units (1,481 single-family, 523 in multi-unit buildings)2013: 2,474 units (1,942 single-family, 532 in multi-unit buildings)2014: 2,288 units (1,943 single-family, 345 in multi-unit buildings)2015: 2,447 units (2,166 single-family, 281 in multi-unit buildings)20152016: 2,798 units (2,399 single-family, 399 in multi-unit buildings)2017: 3,178 units (2,727 single-family, 451 in multi-unit buildings)2018: 3,180 units (2,875 single-family, 305 in multi-unit buildings)2019: 3,467 units (3,041 single-family, 426 in multi-unit buildings)2020: 4,523 units (3,971 single-family, 552 in multi-unit buildings)20202021: 4,805 units (4,395 single-family, 410 in multi-unit buildings)2022: 4,170 units (3,764 single-family, 406 in multi-unit buildings)2023: 4,134 units (3,610 single-family, 524 in multi-unit buildings)2024: 4,354 units (3,816 single-family, 538 in multi-unit buildings)2025: 3,885 units (3,264 single-family, 621 in multi-unit buildings)2025

Housing units authorised in Sussex County by year, 1995–2025single-family2+ unit buildings

84,512 units since 1995; the busiest year was 2021. Annual figures include units imputed for months a place did not report.

Home prices in Sussex County

FHFA's index for Sussex County rose +85.1% over the ten years to 2025 (+6.4% a year) and +5.3% in the latest year, against +74.2% and +3.2% for Delaware. Full county page: decade table, peak-to-low declines, every ZIP code and every permit-issuing place in the county.

Questions and answers

How many homes are being built in Sussex County, DE?

3,621 housing units were authorised by building permits in the 12 months to August 2026, against 4,245 in the previous 12 months.

What kind of housing is being permitted in Sussex County?

3,273 single-family units, 52 in two-unit buildings, 0 in three- and four-unit buildings and 296 in buildings of five or more units.

How does Sussex County compare with its county and state?

No population estimate is attached to this permit-issuing area, so a per-resident rate is not shown; Sussex County runs at 13.1 units per 1,000 residents and Delaware at 6.1.

How have home prices moved in Sussex County?

FHFA's index for Sussex County rose +85.1% over the ten years to 2025 and +5.3% in the latest year; the county page has the full series.

What does a permit count?

A housing unit authorised by a building permit for new privately owned residential construction, as reported to the Census Bureau Building Permits Survey by the permit-issuing office. Permits are not completions; some permitted units are never built, and places that report only annually are imputed in monthly figures.

Provenance

Permits: US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, place-level monthly and annual files through August 2026 (permit office 225000); county and state comparisons from the county and state files. Population: Census Bureau vintage 2025 estimates for incorporated places, matched on FIPS place code where the permit office is one. House price index: Federal Housing Finance Agency. Public domain. Corrections · Building Permits Survey.