An annual overview of construction permit data for Texas from January through December 2019
Based on HBW’s latest Building Activity Trend Report for new residential construction in Texas last year, new home construction was slow across the Lone Star State. In 2019, there were approximately 74,860 housing starts in the combined metro areas of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, reflecting a 4 percent year-over-year decrease in residential construction. While new home construction was on the decline overall and statewide, not every metro area was slow in comparison to 2018. For example, the market in Houston remained steady with the previous year, and the Austin area came out ahead with a 4 percent year-over-year increase in housing starts.
Houston – When reviewing permit data for higher concentrations of housing starts, the Houston area carried the greatest total number of new permits in comparison to other metro areas reviewed as there were 31,765 new residential construction permits on file for the one-year period. While new home construction has been on the rise since 2017 in the Houston area, 2019 marked a stable market as figures are steady with the previous year.
Dallas – While the Dallas area ranked second for total housing starts (24,053 permits), last year was the first year that new home construction was on the decline in five years. Overall, the Dallas area experienced a 13 percent year-over-year decrease in new home construction in 2019, with counties experiencing annual drops as great as 26 percent. The only county that appears to be immune to the lows of the residential construction market is Ellis County. Since 2015, new home construction has been on the rise in Ellis County year after year, and in 2019 there were more than 1,830 housing starts in Ellis, reflecting a 9.5 percent year-over-year increase in new home construction.
Austin – As previously mentioned, Austin is the one metro area out of the four reviewed that demonstrated an increase in new residential construction last year. In Austin, there were more than 11,955 housing starts in 2019, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 4 percent in new home construction. More than half of all new construction took place in Travis County where there were 7,665 housing starts and a nearly 11 percent year-over-year increase in new residential construction permits.
San Antonio – Although new home construction has been on the rise in San Antonio since 2015, last year the area demonstrated a 3 percent decrease in new residential construction permits. Out of the nearly 7,090 housing starts on file with HBW for San Antonio, more than half originated from Bexar County; while housing starts were on the decline overall in the San Antonio area last year, Bexar County appears to be holding strong as there were more than 4,660 new residential construction permits on record in 2019, reflecting a 15 percent year-over-year increase in new home construction.
To gain more information on the builders, homeowners and permits for the construction activity above, check out HBW for your copy of the latest construction data reports. To gain access to the HBW database and receive custom and detailed reports on the latest residential and commercial building activity in Florida, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, and Oklahoma, please contact HBW for details.