Higher Mortgage Costs, Prices Hammer D-FW New Home Market
After more than doubling local home starts in the last decade, don't expect Dallas-Fort Worth builders to increase construction by much in 2019.
D-FW home starts are forecast to rise to 36,000 houses next year. That would be an increase of only a few hundred home starts from this year's totals, according to a new forecast by local housing analyst Residential Strategies Inc.
"We believe that the housing market is generally flattening," said Residential Strategies' principal Ted Wilson. "It will be difficult for the market to grow much larger from a start standpoint."
For the 12 months ended with September, local builders have started 35,733 homes, according to Residential Strategies.
Wilson said that rising mortgage costs and years of steady home price hikes in North Texas have caused buyers to pull back from the new home market in recent months....
