HOUSTON – Houston ranks No. 2 in the nation in housing starts, behind only the national homebuilding leader, Dallas, according to third quarter statistics from Metrostudy.
Through three quarters of 2016, Houston recorded 25,800 starts, a decline of 3,000 starts from the comparable period of 2015.
“Houston’s housing market continues to prove to be resilient given the prolonged turbulence in upstream oil and gas and continued sub-optimal $40 to $45 a barrel crude oil prices,” says Lawrence Dean, director of Metrostudy’s Houston market.
Weak job growth has put a damper on Houston’s housing starts. When the annual starts totals come in, Metrostudy projects a decline of 9 or 10 percent in 2016, with modest improvement predicted for 2017 and 2018.
Homes priced at less than $300,000 are the best sellers.
A lack of inventory puts upward pressure on home prices – both new and existing homes – across the country, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors. Home building must increase to address the housing supply shortage, but high land costs and development costs makes is harder for builders to increase construction and build starter homes.
Nov. 7, 2016 Realty News Report Copyright 2016