New building permit data from the Greater Houston Partnership shows how Hurricane Harvey affected Houston's commercial and residential stock. Despite rebuilding efforts after the hurricane, commercial permit values fell to $3.7B issued in 2017, down 17% year over year. Residential permits are on the rise, gaining 12.5% to $2.4B issued. In total, city building permits totaled $6.1B last year, down 7.5%.

Hurricane Harvey accounts for a large part of the difference between commercial and residential permit values. The year ended with a surge in residential permits, primarily due to post-Harvey repairs. In the four months following the storm, residential permits totaled $949M, up 76% from the same period in 2016. By comparison, Houston's commercial building stock was spared from flooding. Commercial permit values totaled $1.1B from September ’17 to December ’17, down 6.5% from the prior year.