The North Texas home-building market is gaining momentum, according to two market reports released Monday.
Builders started construction on 48.2 percent more homes in the fourth quarter of 2012, Dallas-based Residential Strategies said: 4,549 new homes between October and December, up from 3,068 in the same quarter of 2011. The construction activity is filling a backlog of orders and replacing speculative homes in the market, the firm said.And for the full year, home starts totaled 17,947, a 28.4 percent increase over 2011, Residential Strategies said."Normally, the fourth quarter is the slowest period of the year for new construction," said Ted Wilson, principal with Residential Strategies. "This year was somewhat different. The strong sales pace builders reported during the summer and fall months put strains on the construction capacity for this market. The shortage of certain construction trades caused order backlogs to swell and pushed a large amount of start activity into the end of the year. Timing issues aside, most builders had a good year."Separately, Dallas-based Metrostudy -- using slightly different reporting areas and methodology -- reported new home starts up 21 percent in 2012, finishing the year at 17,237 starts. Grand Prairie, Crowley and southwest Tarrant County were among areas seeing a lot of construction in the fourth quarter, Metrostudy said."With finished new home inventory at a 14-year low during the second half of the year, and builders have had to ramp up the new starts activity to keep up with demand," said David Brown, director of Metrostudy's Dallas-Fort Worth office.Residential Strategies said the number of closings on new homes increased 19.5 percent in the fourth quarter, to 4,479 from 3,748 in the fourth quarter of 2011. Most of the closings last year were in the $250,000 to $500,000 price range, Wilson said.Steady job growth and lower unemployment have helped the local housing market, Wilson said.Mortgage rates also remain historically low, he said."During fourth-quarter 2012, two important milestones were achieved on the employment front," Wilson said. "For the first time in its history, total employment in DFW surpassed the 3 million level. But perhaps more noteworthy is the fact that DFW has now made back all of the jobs lost during the economic downturn."Brown said home values will go up this year because of the increased sales and low supply. Existing home inventory is below a four-month supply, he said."We are seeing builders raise prices in many locations," Brown said.Sandra Baker, 817-390-7727Twitter: @SandraBakerFWSTdHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
