Real estate mega-site Trulia has finally confirmed what HBW subscribers have already known: Houston is hot for home building. According to Trulia, Houston is the fourth most powerful home building market in the country. Those seeking residential construction job leads should look into the Houston market with a customized HBW Residential Builder Summary Report.

According to Trulia, the 2014 annualized permit activity relative to the metro historical norm is up 61% in the Houston metroplex, with a 10.4% year-over-year increase in asking price for new homes. Multifamily construction accounts for 34% of the market and the asking prices continue to rise in the multifamily sector. Houston is on track to build 50% more new homes in 2014 than the city’s historical average, which evens out to about 30,000 new residences. It’s also one of the few locations where the home building activity spike is accompanied by rising home prices.  According to the Houston Association of Realtors, the average asking price in July was $202,000.

Houston’s July homebuilding numbers have been helped by a steep demand for new homes and a low inventory of available units. 7,769 homes were sold last month, which is a 1% increase over July 2014. It took an average of 45 days to sell a home, with sales for homes valued over $150,000 sharply increasing, while sales of lower-valued homes valued dropped off.

Master-planned communities in and around Houston account for much of the home building boom. CDC Houston is building Springwoods Village, with a projected 4500-5500 units to be built out. The Woodlands Development Corp. is expanding within The Woodlands and Bridgeland, with a combined 55,210 lots to be developed over the next two decades. The Johnson Development Company will be building out a combined 11,500 residential lots in Riverstone and Woodforest, over the next five years. 2014-2106 will see Newland Communities, Inc. build 12,800 new homes in Telfair and Cinco Ranch. Caldwell Companies expect to finish building out 3,210 lots in Willowcreek and Towne Lake between now and 2018. River Park West, The Vintage, and Cypress Creek Lakes will see Mischer Investments, LP, build out over 2,400 during the next five years. Finally, Friendswood Development Co. plans to develop 2,429 lots in two Kingwood neighborhoods, Royal Shores and Oakhurst, over the next few years.