DALLAS – Housing starts rose sharply in the first quarter in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which is the most robust home construction market in the nation.
First quarter 2016 housing starts numbered 7,015, up 39.1 percent from the first quarter of 2015, which was hampered by bad weather, snow and ice, according to Metrostudy, which characterized the D-FW home building market as “explosive.”
Dallas builders are faced with a tight labor market and prices are rising. “First quarter starts data presents further evidence of Dallas-Ft. Worth’s market shift in price,” said Paige Shipp, Regional Director of Metrostudy’s Dallas Office. “Historically, most of DFW’s starts and closings occurred below $200,000. The new normal reflects a meteoric rise in starts above $200,000.”
Starts between $300,000 and $349,999 jumped 81 percent, Metrostudy reported. Conversely, starts below $200,000 have dropped 14.6 percent.
For the first three months of the year, builders and developers report that prices are stable but anticipate an increase in the cost of concrete in April. If builders are not able to pass the costs onto the buyer, margins may be affected,” said Shipp. “Demand for homes in Dallas-Ft. Worth persists, but builders, developers and municipalities must work together to deliver attainably priced homes. Land prices, development costs, fees and home building costs cannot be controlled. The only way to provide new homes below $300k will be by increasing home density and decreasing home square footage.”
May 15, 2016