The wet, cold start to 2015 hampered North Texas new home starts

All that snow, ice and cold weather during the first couple of months of the year put a hamper on new home starts in Dallas-Fort Worth, according to a market report from Dallas-based Residential Strategies.

Although sales of new homes were good from January through March, home builders were only able to start construction on 5,740 homes, down 22 percent from the first quarter of 2014. During that three-month period, builders started 7,375 homes, the report said.

“The slowdown in start activity should not be construed as tapering of demand,” said Ted Wilson, principal with Residential Strategies. “Sales reports from the builders indicate that home-buying activity has been robust. In fact, the spring market that typically kicks off after the Super Bowl began earlier this year and has remained strong throughout the quarter.”

But the bad weather made soil conditions too wet to pour slabs for much of the quarter, Wilson said. The number of finished lots ready for construction fell to 3,113 on March 31, compared to 3,366 lots a year ago.

Market observers are expecting that to change this quarter. Although estimates are that the inclement weather has pushed construction on homes back by a month.

Home closings during the quarter totaled 4,785, up from 4,568 closings in the year-ago quarter. The DFW housing market has been buoyed by strong employment.

“The market drivers are promising for the North Texas area,” Wilson said. “The focus will be on playing ‘catch-up’ from the first quarter weather-related delays.”

This story was originally published April 7, 2015 at 6:04 PM with the headline "The wet, cold start to 2015 hampered North Texas new home starts."