Construction shows no sign of flagging in Texas, according to a recent report from Forbes and McGraw Hill Construction which looks at new construction data from United States metropolitan statistical areas to determine the 20 cities where construction is booming.
Just behind New York, which has seen an upsurge in construction projects — mostly residential towers and mixed-use developments — delayed during the recession, Dallas ranked No. 2 among Building Boom Cities with $5.2 billion on construction starts between January and May of 2013.
With $4.8 billion already logged before May, Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land took No. 3 on the list, and Austin-Round Rock ranked No. 15 with $1.8 billion spent on projects year-to-date.
This accounts for all "Total Building" structures, including single-family and multi-family homes, office space, retail space, warehouses, heath care facilities, educational buildings, manufacturing plants and research facilities.
"While Dallas is welcoming a tremendous amount of building related to business operations and infrastructure, Houston's largest projects have typically revolved around health care and housing, such as the $72 million MD Anderson Pavilion begun in May and the $45 million Hanover Post Oak rental high rise begun in April," the article notes.
Ken Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, considers Houston one of his hotspots, along with Phoenix, San Francisco and San Jose.
Single family home construction is up to a historic high.
