Massachusetts building-permit intelligence
Weekly report · August 31 – September 06, 2026

Massachusetts Building Activity Report

Building-permit filings across 42 Massachusetts communities for the week of August 31 – September 06, 2026, compared with the week before. Compiled from municipal permit records by masspermits.com.

1,858
permits filed this week
-24%
vs prior week (2,725 permits)
$37.0M
total declared project value
$10K
median project value

Where activity spiked

Top 5 towns by week-over-week increase in permit filings (minimum 8 permits).

#1 spike
Cohasset
+141% (+24 permits)
41 permits this week · 17 the week before
Most active: Gas & Building · all Cohasset permits →
#2 spike
Cambridge
+41% (+43 permits)
148 permits this week · 105 the week before
Median project $11K · largest $1.1M
Most active: Electrical & HVAC · all Cambridge permits →
#3 spike
Fairhaven
+54% (+22 permits)
63 permits this week · 41 the week before
Most active: Renovation/Remodel & Electrical · all Fairhaven permits →
#4 spike
Norwell
+82% (+14 permits)
31 permits this week · 17 the week before
Most active: Electrical & Renovation/Remodel · all Norwell permits →
#5 spike
Mashpee
+33% (+20 permits)
80 permits this week · 60 the week before
Most active: Renovation/Remodel & Electrical · all Mashpee permits →

Most active towns

Permits filed last week — spike towns highlighted in green.

Falmouth167Cambridge148Braintree127Boston102Attleboro92Mashpee80Stoughton74Sandwich64Bridgewater64Fairhaven63

What's being built

Trade mix across all permits filed last week.

Electrical445
Renovation/Remodel354
Plumbing226
Gas163
Other126
HVAC120
Building118
Roofing84

Notable projects in spike towns

Largest projects by declared valuation. Street numbers withheld for privacy.

TownStreetTradeWork Valuation
CambridgeLakeview AveNew Construction(FFF) (Bldg. 'B' as noted on plans / front building) New Construction - single family dwel$1,080,000
CambridgeLakeview AveNew Construction(FFF) (Building 'A' as noted on plans) New Construction - 2 family dwelling$1,000,000
CambridgeAllston StNew ConstructionFFF Build new 3 story, 2 unit building$850,000

Past weeks

Every weekly report keeps its own permanent URL.

2026-08-30 · 2026-08-23 · 2026-08-16

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Republishing this?

Every figure above is compiled from public municipal records and is free to cite with attribution. The method, the sources behind each number and what those sources do not publish are documented at masspermits.com/research/methodology, and the full source-by-source coverage table is at /research/coverage.