The latest HBW Building Activity Trend stats are in, and new residential construction is growing in parts of Texas.
With the third quarter closing last month, we took a peek at the latest HBW permit activity for new residential construction. In comparison to 2014, some areas of Texas continue to grow, while others are steady and on course with the previous year.
For those of you who already subscribe to HBW, you know how much detailed and custom information you can pull from every report. For our purposes, we reviewed new residential activity by the four major areas (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin) and then by top counties for growth and total starts. Another valuable figure we reviewed is new construction for homes over $500,000.
Now that you have a basic map for how we customized our building activity trend report, here’s a summary of the new permitting activity on file through the 3rd quarter of 2015:
Unlike the pattern we saw in Q2 of this year where Austin was experiencing an 8% increase in new residential construction, there was a minuscule drop in activity in the Austin area (-2%) by the end of the 3rd quarter. Based on the quarterly average, Austin is charted to come out equal or just above totals from 2014. The drop is marginal and reflects the fluctuations of each quarter. Houston held steady and continued to reflect a 4% decrease in activity in comparison to 2014; that being stated, as you will notice in the “Top 5 Counties for Growth” chart at the tail end of this report, the county of Brazoria continues to dominate in growth with a major increase of 53% in comparison to activity through the 3rd quarter of last year. Both Houston and Austin are expected to hold steady and strong and are growing areas in Texas. Based on Forbes magazine’s 2015 list of fastest growing cities, Houston is #1 and Austin is #2 in the nation for growth; additionally, the total number of new residential construction starts in Houston takes the lead in Texas with 25,032 new permits added to the HBW database through Q3.
Texas New Residential Construction. Q3-YTD Comparison 2014 vs. 2015
Two areas that continue to be on the rise are Dallas and San Antonio. For those of you who have your eye on the news, Dallas has been shining as a market that is in demand. Earlier this year, The Dallas Morning News described Dallas as an area that has homebuyers in a pinch as the demand for housing outweighs supply. According to Forbes, Dallas is ranked #3 as one of the fastest growing U.S. cities. The Dallas buzz is also evident in permit activity, as there was a 15% increase in new residential construction activity in comparison to 2014. San Antonio jumped from a 5% increase in Q2 to a 9% increase in Q3.
Texas New Residential Construction >$500k – 2015
Another point of interest is the number of starts for homes valued above $500,000. At the current pace (based on monthly averages), Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin are all expected to be on track for a slight increase in activity in comparison to last year. Dallas currently leads with 1,374 new permits in 2015, and Houston is solid each quarter with 841 new residential construction starts greater than $500,000 through September 2015.
Texas New Residential Top 5 Counties for Growth
When viewing Texas by top counties for growth, previously mentioned Brazoria (Houston area) is leading in growth with a 53% increase through the 3rd quarter (compared to 2014). The county of Comal (San Antonio) is also worth mentioning as it reflects an impressive level of growth (37.2%) from the previous year. The chart above highlights the five top counties for growth, mapping areas on the rise. At the same time, it is worth taking a look at five counties that hold the highest number of new residential permits in the HBW database:
Texas New Residential Permits – Top 5 Counties
The Houston area is holding steady and leading the state in total number of new residential permits (25,032 permits thru Q3); the bulk of new residential construction activity can be found in Houston’s Harris County, with 12,352 new permits available in the HBW database. The second and third spots are held by Fort Bend (Houston) with 5,635 starts and Collin (Dallas) with 5,175 starts.
Overall, Texas is looking good and flourishing in new residential construction. To gain more detailed information on the permit activity reviewed in this report or to access your own complimentary custom report, contact HBW for the latest permitting activity in Texas, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma.