A review of the latest construction permits on record with HBW from January 2019 through June 2019

Since the start of this year, new residential construction in Texas has been off to a slower start than anticipated.  Overall, and in the four major metro areas of Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio, there has been a 5% decrease in housing starts in comparison to the same time last year (Q2-2019).  From January to June of 2019, there have been approximately 36,550 new residential construction permits added to the HBW database for Texas, with more than 40 percent of those permits originating from the Houston area.  While Austin is the only metro area that has exhibited a year-over-year increase in housing starts (+4%), all other metro regions reviewed have experienced notable drops in new home construction ranging from as low as 3 percent (Houston) to as high as 11 percent (Dallas).

Here is a closer look at the details from HBW’s latest building activity trend report for new residential construction in Texas through the second quarter of 2019:

Houston

Houston continues to be a powerhouse metro area when it comes to high volume in new residential construction.  From January to June of this year, there have been approximately 15,635 housing starts in Houston, with more than 2 percent representing higher value properties (construction value in excess of $500k).  While the area has demonstrated a pattern of growth in housing starts since 2017, so far this year new home construction is slower and reflective of a 3 percent decrease in new permits in comparison to the same time last year.  From a county-wide perspective, Harris County is holding steady with last year’s figures and carries more than half of all new permits for the Houston area (8,358 permits).

Dallas

While the Dallas area has exhibited significant annual growth in its housing market year after year since 2015, new residential construction permits are down by 11 percent (compared to 2018) through the second quarter of this year.  Dallas ranks second-highest for volume of new home construction, having approximately 11,590 housing starts on file with HBW. More than 5 percent of all new home construction in the Dallas area represented higher value properties (construction value > $500k), and the majority of all new permits originated from Tarrant County (3,521 permits) and Collin County (2,638 permits).

Austin

Last year, Austin demonstrated healthy growth in new residential construction, and based on figures through the second quarter of this year, its growth pattern has continued.  Through Q2-2019, there have been approximately 6,035 new permits added to the HBW database for the Austin area, reflecting a 4 percent year-over-year increase.  More than half of all new construction took place in Travis County (3,972 permits), where there has been more than a 15 percent increase in new home construction in comparison to the same time last year.

San Antonio

Since the start of this year (through Q2-2019) there have been close to 3,300 housing starts in the San Antonio area, reflecting a 7 percent year-over-year decrease in new home construction from the combined counties of Bexar, Comal and Guadalupe.  In contrast to the overall drop in new residential construction activity, the majority of new home construction took place in Bexar County (~2,100 permits) where there has been more than a 7 percent increase in total residential construction permits in comparison to the same time last year.

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.