Jason Wheeler, WFAA
Case-Shiller is out with new housing statistics that show home price appreciation in the Dallas area market up 8.4 percent year-over-year.That's the third-highest percentage growth in the top 20 markets in the country, behind only Denver and San Francisco.
The rate of price growth in North Texas is almost double the national average.
A big part of the equation is how many (or, more accurately, how few) homes are for sale in the region. Currently there is only about a two-and-a-half month supply of existing homes for sale. Normally, there would be six months' worth of "used" homes available.
Because of that, the business of constructing new homes is building fast. Tim Stewart of Bloomfield Homes characterized the local industry as "exciting."
"The market has picked up," he said. "We're looking right now at 40 percent growth this year."
Bloomfield is selling many new houses before they can even be put up. It's much the same story for other construction companies in North Texas.
"Some of the builders have had huge backlogs, and some builders have limited the number of orders they'll take," said Ted Wilson, principal at Residential Strategies, which analyzes real estate markets in Texas.
For perspective, he said about 26,000 new housing starts here this year is nowhere near the all-time high. "We peaked back in 2006 at about 51,000 units," Wilson said. "That was great, and it was a record for Dallas and Fort Worth."
This year's growth in new housing is double what it was during the worst of the recession. Demand is definitely back.
But now it's the supply of workers that's a problem. Lack of skilled construction laborers is a leftover from the recession, when many of them couldn't find work, Wilson said.
"The downturn was so profound and so protracted that a lot of people in our industry went on to other types of jobs," he said.
That — in addition to the spring floods that wiped out about a month-and-a-half of construction days — have been major limiters on the new housing boom in North Texas. Because of those factors, there is a low inventory of new homes available.
Tim Stewart said if you haven't already ordered your new abode, Bloomfield Homes might have one finished home available in each of their communities — if you're lucky.
"We've never managed that low of a final inventory before. Ever," he said.
Ted Wilson said Bloomfield and other builders here are being rewarded for persevering through the recession, which culled much of the competition.
"We lost about half the builders who went out of business during the downturn," he said.
Bloomfield Homes doesn't see these better days letting up anytime soon, either. Stewart said the job creation here is stressing the housing market. He reckons builders need to construct about 30,000 homes a year just to keep up with the influx of new residents.
The rate of price growth in North Texas is almost double the national average.
A big part of the equation is how many (or, more accurately, how few) homes are for sale in the region. Currently there is only about a two-and-a-half month supply of existing homes for sale. Normally, there would be six months' worth of "used" homes available.
In North Texas, there's only about a two-and-a-half month supply of existing homes for sale. So new home builders are struggling to keep up with the demand.
"The market has picked up," he said. "We're looking right now at 40 percent growth this year."
Bloomfield is selling many new houses before they can even be put up. It's much the same story for other construction companies in North Texas.
For perspective, he said about 26,000 new housing starts here this year is nowhere near the all-time high. "We peaked back in 2006 at about 51,000 units," Wilson said. "That was great, and it was a record for Dallas and Fort Worth."
This year's growth in new housing is double what it was during the worst of the recession. Demand is definitely back.
But now it's the supply of workers that's a problem. Lack of skilled construction laborers is a leftover from the recession, when many of them couldn't find work, Wilson said.
"The downturn was so profound and so protracted that a lot of people in our industry went on to other types of jobs," he said.
That — in addition to the spring floods that wiped out about a month-and-a-half of construction days — have been major limiters on the new housing boom in North Texas. Because of those factors, there is a low inventory of new homes available.
"We've never managed that low of a final inventory before. Ever," he said.
Ted Wilson said Bloomfield and other builders here are being rewarded for persevering through the recession, which culled much of the competition.
"We lost about half the builders who went out of business during the downturn," he said.
Bloomfield Homes doesn't see these better days letting up anytime soon, either. Stewart said the job creation here is stressing the housing market. He reckons builders need to construct about 30,000 homes a year just to keep up with the influx of new residents.
