It’s no secret that Texas is gaining in popularity. Texas-style urbanism has been making headlines, with the “Texas Triangle” (Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, San Antonio) reportedly accounting for 66% of the Lone Star State’s population. A new report titled “The Texas Way of Urbanism” from the Center for Opportunity Urbanism (COU) went into more depth about the rise in Texas cities. The report noted that the larger urban areas of Texas have added the most jobs and people since 2000 in comparison to larger coastal cities. Job growth has been impressive throughout the Texas Triangle, with Dallas and Houston having increased by 31% since 2000, while the less populated areas of Austin and San Antonio have experienced some of the fastest job growth in the nation (>52%).
In addition to the significant job growth since 2000, the report by COU stated that affordable housing proved to be an important part of the Texas model of urbanism. Texas cities clearly have significantly less housing costs in comparison to larger coastal cities throughout the nation. Based on the latest permitting data available from HBW, San Antonio had the lowest average value of new residential construction last month ($203,667). As for total housing starts, Houston had the most on file (1,483 permits) out of the Texas Triangle cities, and the area followed the affordability pattern as the average value of construction was $208,136 last month.
TX Total New Residential Permits – Nov. 2016
Out of the nearly 3,400 housing starts and approximately $838.5M in construction value throughout the Texas Triangle in November, the more densely populated areas of Houston and Dallas led for total new residential construction permits. As previously mentioned, Houston continued to lead the state for new residential construction with 1,483 housing starts and nearly $309M in construction value. While Dallas was second highest for total housing starts (1,063 permits), it was the leader for total construction value with a total close to $333M for the month. On a related note, the average value of residential construction in Dallas was also the highest of the four major areas reviewed at $312,877. Austin was next in line and ranked second highest for the month with an average construction value of $245,919.
TX Average Value of Resid. Construction – Nov. 2016
Although total permits were not as high as October, Harris County in Houston remained in the #1 spot for total new residential construction permits. In November, there were 676 housing starts in Harris County with a total construction value of $152.5M. Also in the Houston area, the county of Fort Bend was ranked second highest for housing starts with 348 new residential construction permits and a total value in excess of $52M for the month, bringing it up three spots on the chart since October. Holding steady and continuing to rank third highest for new residential construction, Collin County in Dallas had 343 housing starts and nearly $122M in value added to the HBW database last month.
TX Top Counties for Total Permits – Nov. 2016
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.