The Greater Houston area has reported a spike in single-family home permits within the past decade. The figures have skyrocketed higher than that of any other metropolitan area.
A data report recently released by the National Homebuilders Association indicates that the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area accounted for 363,067 total single-family permits from 2011 through 2020, surpassing every other listing in the category.
“The Houston housing market continues to show strength as we enter the fall season, which is traditionally the time of year the market slows,” said HAR Chairman Richard Miranda with Keller Williams Platinum. “We are on track for another record year of sales; however, higher home prices and the potential of rising interest rates could impact buyer demand in the coming months.”
Texas cities owned the top of the ranking, claiming three out of the top five spots, with the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area ranking second and the Austin-Round Rock area ranking fifth. The other two metropolitan areas in the top five were Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona, ranking third and fourth, respectively.
The Houston community also ranked in the top five for total multi-family permits during the same time period, falling in fourth place with 162,545, while Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ranked second with 217,621. Single-family and multi-family permit applications have seen a significant acceleration in the past 10 years, increasing by 134% and 139%, Nahbnow.com reports.
The influx derived in part from the population growth recorded in Harris County, which has grown by 15.6% since 2010 based on census data. Over that same period, Houston's growth was surpassed only by Phoenix, the report notes.
“Despite the volatility surrounding the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the housing market has shown remarkable resilience, fueled by demographic tailwinds and a housing shortage due to a decade of underbuilding,” the National Homebuilders Association states. “Home construction slowed after 2007 as a result of the 2008 Great Recession, but home building staged a slow, modest recovery over the last decade, with a sharp acceleration in 2020, due to the pandemic.”
