D-FW tops U.S. 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. Show Full Story

Austin and San Antonio made it onto the annual ranking of the top U.S. homebuilding markets, too.

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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.

Metrostudy reports that the North Texas new home market slowed in the final months of 2018 because of an increase in home mortgage costs and near record rainfall in the area.

"There is optimism in the industry for the start of 2019," Shipp said. "Rates inched down, the weather is generally clear and buyers are returning to the market.

"Only time will tell how the next 12 months shake out."

D-FW has been the country's busiest homebuilding market for several years.

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In 2018, North Texas home starts were up by more than 4 percent to the highest level since the Great Recession.

But total home construction in the area remains more than 30 percent below where it was before the housing bust a decade ago.