Austin saw 17,000 home-starts in 12

months

Austin Business Journal - September 29, 2006

D.R. Horton had the most new home starts in the Austin market during the last year, according to an independent report by market research firm Residential Strategies Inc.

The D.R. Horton group started 2,412 units in the last 12 months. Lennar Corp. ranked second with 2,276 new starts. Pulte Homes (1,177), KB Home (1,045) and Centex (1,040) rounded out the top five.

Dallas-based Residential Strategies uses surveyor visits to home building sites to compile its lists on a quarterly basis.

The top 25 builders started 14,833 new homes locally during the last year, representing 87 percent of the new-home market in the five-county region. A total of 16,973 new home starts were recorded for the period.

"While Austin builders are concerned about the housing slow-down reported in other parts of the country, the fact is that, for now, Austin is still a healthy market," says Mark Sprague, partner in the Austin office of Residential Strategies. "Austin did not experience the massive run-ups in house prices three years ago that affected so many markets. As a result, Austin's relative affordability and stability have served it well during the past few months."

Sprague says the number of homes priced above $300,000 in the local market increased 93 percent in the last year over the previous 12 months.

"The Austin market is obviously going contrary to the national market," he says.