D-FW Tops US in Homebuilding for Third Year in a Row
Dallas-Fort Worth edged out Houston to hang on to its spot as the top homebuilding market in the country in 2018. Builders started 34,750 houses in North Texas last year — more than any other metro area in the nation, according to a new report by housing analysts at Metrostudy Inc. Houston was second, with 30,146 home starts. Austin and San Antonio made it onto the annual ranking of the top U.S. homebuilding markets, too.
While D-FW home starts were up in 2018, the median new home sales price fell because builders were trying to produce more affordable homes for buyers.
"D-FW's median new home price has dropped since last year, yet the decrease in price is not a devaluation; rather it is an indication that buyers are purchasing smaller, more affordable homes," said Paige Shipp, regional director of Metrostudy's Dallas-Fort Worth market. "In a market where new and resale price appreciation significantly outpaced wage growth, a lower median price indicates that more homebuyers will be able to afford new homes.
"Builders and developers delivered additional communities and homes to meet the strongest demand in our market — product priced below $350,000," Shipp said...
