Where are houses being built?

[Ítalo Mendonça]

Hi all, 

newbie here. The New York Times just posted an interesting article with the extremes in increases/decreases of residential building permits across the US. Just wanted to get a discussion going and see what people at BP take away from the data. The cities that are seeing big increases in permits are the usual suspects - mostly areas that have seen an appreciation in prices in the last few years. But what about the areas that dropped the most in issuing permits? Is it a function of construction costs? Local fundamentals? Regulation?

Would be interested to hear everyone's thoughts, whether you live in one of the areas cited or not. The infographic is attached below. Cheers!