Out of the four major metropolitan areas in Texas, D.R. Horton continued to lead the Lone Star State for housing starts in January.

With nearly 4,500 new residential construction permits and more than $1B in total value on file for Texas last month, home builders were gaining a good start to the new year.  Although D.R. Horton continued its lead for housing starts across the Texas Triangle, there were several notable home builders who were making their own marks in various regions. From the metro areas of Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio, here is a closer look at the companies with the highest concentration of housing starts in January:

D.R. Horton ranked #1 in all metro areas reviewed with the exception of San Antonio.  Having more than 600 new residential construction permits and an excess of $104M in total value, the mega builder remains untouched on the charts.  D.R. Horton’s highest average value for new builds could be found in Dallas at approximately $214k, while its lowest average value was in Houston at just under $149k.

Ranking second highest, Lennar Homes had an excess of 175 housing starts totaling more than $36M last month, with approximately half taking place in Houston, while Pulte Homes ranked third with 170 housing starts and approximately $33M in total value on file with HBW for the month.

When breaking down new residential construction activity by metro area, several other companies come into focus as they drive construction in specific cities.

HOUSTON

In Houston, there were close to 270 active home builders on file for the month, and D.R. Horton was on top with more than 200 starts and nearly $30.5M in total value.  Next in line, Camillo Properties pulled more than 110 new residential construction permits with the majority of construction taking place in Harris County.  Lennar Homes ranked third highest in Houston for the month with nearly 90 starts and the highest average value of construction out of the top five builders at close to $176k.

DALLAS

Out of more than 230 active builders in Dallas last month, D.R. Horton continued to be positioned at the top of the charts with nearly 200 housing starts totaling more than $42M in value. Pulte Homes ranked second highest with 57 housing starts last month that took place in the counties of Collin, Tarrant and Denton.  Not far behind, Calatlantic Homes held third for total starts with 52 new residential construction permits and the highest average value out of the top five builders at nearly $357k.

AUSTIN

Like the other major cities mentioned, Austin’s new residential construction was dominated by D.R. Horton in January.  Out of the 112 active builders on file for the month, D.R. Horton was off to a strong start to the year with close to 200 housing starts totaling more than $31.5M.  Lennar Homes was also active in the area with more than 55 starts for the month, and KB Homes ran a close third with 52 housing starts.  KB Homes had the highest average value of construction out of the top three builders at nearly $199k.  All three builders carried an average value of construction that was lower than the average value across the metro Austin area (Austin average value – $222.6k).

SAN ANTONIO

As mentioned in our Texas Residential Construction Update last week, San Antonio is off to a slow start to the year based on figures from January.  There were approximately 30 builders and just less than 100 housing starts on file for the one-month period.  All new residential construction activity took place in Bexar County, and KB Homes was positioned on top with 19 permits.  Out of the top five home builders listed for total starts, the lowest average value of construction was held by KB Homes at approximately $140k, while Meritage Homes held the highest average value at nearly $176k.

Information utilized for the graphs and above listed figures for Texas residential construction was directly derived from HBW 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.