Greensboro says its Road to 10,000 housing push has passed 5,000 units. Census permit records count 3,524 units through September. Why they differ.
Updated Oct. 31: The Census Bureau has published September 2026. Greensboro permitted 311 more units that month, bringing the total since February 2025 to 3,524. Figures, chart and pace below are updated.
The city of Greensboro said Oct. 21 it has passed the halfway mark of its Road to 10,000 housing goal. The city’s release credits the push with “building more than 5,000 new housing units in 18 months.”
Federal building permit records count fewer. Greensboro issued permits for 3,524 new housing units from February 2025, when the initiative began, through September 2026, the latest month published. That total comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Building Permits Survey.
The two figures may be measuring different things. The city’s release does not say how it counts a unit, or which projects count toward the goal.
What the city said
City Manager Trey Davis announced the initiative in February 2025. The goal is to support the development of 10,000 new housing units by 2030, across a range of prices and home types.
“Reaching this milestone ahead of schedule is an encouraging sign that Greensboro is moving in the right direction,” Davis said in the release.
The city tied the push to employers moving to or growing in the area. It named Boom Supersonic, Toyota and JetZero, and said their potential investments total $11 billion.
What the permit records show
A building permit is the city’s sign-off to start construction. The Census Bureau counts the housing units in each permitted building, whether or not they are built yet. The city did not say whether it counts a unit at the permit, at an earlier approval such as a rezoning or site plan, or once it is finished.
From February 2025 through September 2026, Greensboro’s permits covered:
| Building type | Units |
|---|---|
| One-unit buildings (houses and townhomes) | 1,441 |
| Buildings with two to four units | 8 |
| Buildings with five or more units | 2,075 |
| Total | 3,524 |
Apartment and condominium buildings make up 59% of the total. August 2026 brought 426 units, 383 of them in buildings with five or more units. Only September 2025, at 455, was higher in the 20 months. September 2026 added 311 units: 77 in one-unit buildings and 234 in six buildings with five or more units.
Permits are rising
Greensboro’s yearly permit totals have climbed since 2022.
The yearly totals from the Census Bureau’s place files:
- 2022: 1,143 units
- 2023: 1,767 units
- 2024: 1,954 units
- 2025: 1,972 units
- 2026, January to September: 1,611 units
The first nine months of 2026 are up 6% on the same months of 2025, when the city permitted 1,519 units.
At the pace of the last 20 months, about 176 units a month, permits alone would pass 10,000 in late 2029. That is inside the city’s deadline. The 2026 figures are preliminary, and the Census Bureau revises them in its annual file.
What it means for you
- More homes are on the way, mostly apartments. Permits for buildings with five or more units outnumber one-unit permits since the initiative began.
- Home values have held flat. The Zillow Home Value Index puts Greensboro’s typical home value at $260,573 in September 2026, down 0.3% on a year earlier, according to Zillow Research.
- To see what is being built near you, search the city’s permits through our building permits and zoning guide.
More: home prices in Greensboro and the 270-unit apartment complex permitted near Friendly Center.
Have your say