Locus Housing Supply Balance

{
  "type": "json",
  "example": {
    "ok": true,
    "geo": {
      "state": "NC",
      "county": "Wake County",
      "countyFips": "37183"
    },
    "kind": "housing_supply_balance",
    "note": "Awareness/diagnostic only. Full briefs are x402-paid. Agents can discover live free tools at https://api.locus.report/tools/list and paid tools, prices, and manifests at https://api.locus.report/.well-known/ai-tool/index.json.",
    "point": {
      "latitude": 35.78041800000319,
      "longitude": -78.63910200000142
    },
    "ratios": {
      "convention": "jobs in year N divided by housing units permitted in year N-1 (NAHB convention; the one-year lag reflects the time permitted units take to move through construction)",
      "jobsPerTotalUnitPermitted": 0.83,
      "jobsPerMultifamilyUnitPermitted": 2.24
    },
    "status": "ok",
    "caveats": [
      "Reported inputs and a computed ratio only. Locus performs no comparison against any published benchmark and applies no label of its own."
    ],
    "permits": {
      "year": 2024,
      "present": true,
      "totalUnits": 15248,
      "imputedShare": 0.004,
      "multifamilyUnits": 5628,
      "singleFamilyUnits": 9620,
      "reportedTotalUnits": 15180
    },
    "employment": {
      "year": 2025,
      "basis": "place of work, UI-covered employment (BLS QCEW annual averages)",
      "netChange": 12622,
      "priorYear": 2024,
      "annualAvgEmployment": 665775,
      "priorAnnualAvgEmployment": 653153
    },
    "provenance": {
      "permits": {
        "source": "U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey - annual county file (residential units authorized by building permit)",
        "sourceUrl": "https://www.census.gov/construction/bps/",
        "granularity": "county aggregate, calendar year"
      },
      "employment": {
        "source": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages - annual averages, all ownerships, county total",
        "sourceUrl": "https://www.bls.gov/cew/",
        "granularity": "county, calendar-year annual average, place of work, UI-covered employment"
      },
      "housingStock": {
        "source": "U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year, table B25001 (total housing units)",
        "vintage": "ACSDT5Y2023",
        "sourceUrl": "https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2023.B25001",
        "granularity": "county, 5-year estimate"
      }
    },
    "verifyNext": [
      {
        "url": "https://www.census.gov/construction/bps/",
        "step": "Read the county's full permit history in the Census Building Permits Survey."
      }
    ],
    "supplyPipeline": {
      "note": "Permits authorized, not units delivered.",
      "totalHousingUnits": 481999,
      "unitsPermittedAsShareOfStockPct": 3.163
    },
    "componentStatus": [
      {
        "status": "ok",
        "component": "census_bps_county"
      }
    ],
    "publishedCritiques": [
      {
        "url": "https://www.naahq.org/news-publications/units/october-2015-issue/article/job-growth-absorption-doesnt-add",
        "source": "MPF Research / National Apartment Association, 2015, 'Job Growth-to-Absorption: Doesn't Add Up'",
        "summary": "NAA / MPF Research measured this ratio family at -161 to +130 jobs per unit of demand across 50 apartment markets over 14 years and called its reliability 'surprisingly bad'."
      }
    ],
    "publishedBenchmarks": [
      {
        "url": "https://eyeonhousing.org/2026/06/structural-demand-outpacing-supply-jobs-to-permits-ratios-highlight-housing-gap/",
        "note": "NAHB describes this as a historical observation and does not source it further. NAHB computes at metro (MSA) level.",
        "label": "NAHB stated balanced band, jobs per total housing unit permitted",
        "value": "1.25 to 1.50",
        "source": "NAHB Eye on Housing, June 2026"
      }
    ]
  }
}