Housing shortage causes DFW builders to boost new home starts by 21%
The housing shortage in North Texas has caused the region's builders to boost new home starts in the third quarter by 21.8 percent year-over-year to help meet the demand caused by the influx of new jobs.
Dallas-Fort Worth has added 103,500 new jobs in the 12 months ending in August, which is about 49 percent of the jobs added to the Lone Star state. That has trickled down to the housing market.
Four planned neighborhoods are being built by six homebuilders at Windsong Ranch in Prosper.
In the third quarter, Dallas-Fort Worth homebuilders started 8,014 homes and closed on 6,811 new homes during that time, according to research by Dallas-based Residential Strategies Inc., which tracks the single-family home market in North Texas.
"While closings are up, many builders report to us that they are behind on their business plans for the year due to the weather related construction delays," Wilson said, in a statement. "Closings that had originally been scheduled for 3Q15 and 4Q15 are being pushed back."
Historically, North Texas builders could construct a home in about four months. Today, there is a 7.2-month supply of under construction inventory, he said.
Even with the inventory under construction, the supply of homes in North Texas remains tight with a 1.7-month supply. Builders are facing a backlog of orders that accumulated during the rainy spring and are complicated by labor shortages, he said.
In the early summer, Wilson said there were severe shortages of concrete as builders scrambled to pour slabs for homes. Now, the shortage of workers has morphed into a lack of framers.
"Not surprisingly, with the strong demand for trades and subcontractors, construction labor prices have surged once again," Wilson said.
Candace covers commercial and residential real estate and sports business.
