Builders who get their permit information from HBWeekly know that Houston is a hot residential construction market. Home prices hit a record high in the Houston metro area this April. Homes are selling quickly. Buyers making higher-than-expected offers have led to more than a few bidding wars. Real estate agents acknowledge that strong job growth in the Houston metro area and a continuation of low mortgage rates have contributed to this situation, but the main reason for this very hot seller’s market is that the inventory of available homes is at a record low. That means that Houston is a seller’s market for builders as well. The Greater Houston Partnership estimates that 125,000 new single-family homes will be built in the next five years.
Cinco Ranch, a Newland Community property in Katy, Texas, is a 7,400-acre development featuring its own branch of the public library, an extension of the University of Houston, a golf course, a water park, a beach club, and nature trails along with more conventional offerings such as tennis courts, basketball courts, and a fitness center. Home prices begin at 300k, and 733 new home sites will be released for new residential construction in the next quarter.
The 3,700-acre Riverstone community in Sugar Land has planned for 6,000 homes to be built between 2012-2016, with 900 of those sites to be released for new homes over the second and third quarters of 2013. Home prices range from 300k-to-3 million. The community has amenities such as a seventeen-acre recreation center featuring a playground, fitness center, clubhouse, pool, plus tennis courts and ziplines. Riverstone ranks second only to Cinco Ranch for the number of homes sold in a master-planned community.
The Woodlands, an enormous 43.9-square-mile planned community incorporated as its own town just north of the Houston metroplex, features several neighborhood “villages.” House prices range from the 300k to multi-millions of dollars. The amenities are extensive and include everything from nature trails, country clubs, shopping, and sports to restaurants, performance venues, hospitals, and churches. The Woodlands plans to build 641 new homes in over the next quarter. 55 of those home sites have been set aside for the Woodlands Reserve, a multi-million dollar gated community featuring upscale custom homes built exclusively by Frankel Building Group.