REAL BIG NEWS

Houston booms as No. 1 city in U.S. for new home construction in 2023

Three major Texas metro areas have the highest new home construction rates in the nation, with Houston right at the top.

Photo by Josh Olalde on Unsplash

While Houston already holds the crown for the most active real estate market over the last decade, the city has now earned the title for the highest new home construction rate in 2023, according to a recent analysis by Chamber of Commerce.

The booming housing construction is just one way Houston is trying to keep up with it's remarkable population growth.

The June edition of the "Cities with the Most New Homes" analysis discovered that despite new home permits being down over 20 percent year-over-year from 2022, Houston's housing market is still on the rise.

"Numerous factors such as limited inventory in the existing home market, high mortgage rates, and supply chain issues have created a bottleneck for new home construction," the report's authors said. "It remains to be seen whether new home construction will catch up with the current demand, but it’s clear that some cities are experiencing a building boom when it comes to new homes."

Over 23,000 new home construction permits were issued for the city thus far, consisting of both single- and multi-family residential homes. H-Town also ranks at the top with just under 15,400 single-family home permits issued this year.

In the ranking of multi-unit residential homes, only 7,671 permits have been issued in the same time frame, knocking Houston down to No. 3. New York City (No. 1) and Dallas-Fort Worth (No. 2) had higher multi-family construction permits issued, at 10,155 and 7,887 each, respectively.

On average, 5,766 Houston home permits are being issued every month in 2023, which is also the highest rate in the nation. In layman's terms, our real estate market is definitely pretty hot.

The top 10 metro areas that have the highest new home construction in 2023 are:

No.1 – Houston
No. 2 – Dallas-Fort Worth
No. 3 – New York City
No. 4 – Phoenix
No. 5 – Atlanta
No. 6 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 7 – Austin
No. 8 – Orlando
No. 9 – Nashville
No. 10 – Los Angeles

The study analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine the total number of new home construction permits issued in 2023 throughout 225 metro areas in the country.

The full report and its methodology can be found on chamberofcommerce.org.

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rent report

Here's how much Houston rent prices have dropped since last year

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Rent prices are falling statewide, and Houston's have declined more than nearly all other major cities in Texas, according to a new national rent report from Zumper. Houston also has the fourth-cheapest rents in Texas.

The Zumper National Rent Report tracked year-over-year and month-over-month rent price changes in 100 U.S. cities for both one- and two-bedroom units using the most recent data available from May 2026.

Rent prices for one-bedroom units in Houston have dipped 9.6 percent year-over-year, to $1,130, which is the second-steepest decline in Texas. Two-bedroom rents have dropped nearly 5 percent from last year to $1,430.

The report also revealed that four of the 10 U.S. metros offering the most concessions are located in Texas. Austin leads nationally with more than a third of rental units "dangling incentives to fill space," followed by San Antonio and Houston. A separate rent report from real estate data firm CoStar found Houston had the fourth highest apartment vacancy rate in the U.S. in March, meaning residents may be able to save on their rent depending on the financial incentives offered by landlords.

Additionally, these same markets offering generous rent concessions are also among the 10 U.S. metros with the largest population growth, which Zumper says signals ongoing tension between tenants and their landlords regarding prices.

"So while Texas absorbed a significant share of the 2023-2025 supply wave, inventory still has to lease up before landlords regain pricing power, and the steady inflow of new residents says the demand is there," the report stated. "It’s just a question of when supply stops outrunning it."

From 2023 to 2024, Texas gained nearly 73,000 net new renters, making it the No. 1 magnet for renters nationwide.

Rent prices elsewhere in Texas
San Antonio saw the steepest drop in rent prices statewide, with one-bedroom rents falling by 10.4 percent to $950. Two-bedroom units have declined 6 percent year-over-year to $1,250.

Arlington was the only major Texas city where rent prices increased from May 2025 to May 2026. One-bedroom rent increased nearly 3 percent to $1,090, and two-bedroom rent increased 2.1 percent to $1,480.

Zumper annual rent changes in Texas cities Zumper

These are the rent prices for other Texas cities in May 2026:

Austin: $1,420 for one-bedroom units; $1,860 for two-bedroom units
Dallas: $1,350 for one bedroom; $1,900 for two bedrooms
El Paso: $810 for one bedroom; $1,130 for two bedrooms
Fort Worth: $1,240 for one bedroom; $1,560 for two bedrooms
Irving: $1,280 for one bedroom; $1,610 for two bedrooms
Plano: $1,360 for one bedroom; $1,900 for two bedrooms

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