housing boom

Houston booms as No. 2 market for new home construction in the U.S.

New residential construction home framing against a blue sky

Houston has the second-highest concentration of new home development in the nation.

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Houston's real estate market is getting hotter and hotter: A new housing report from ConsumerAffairs has revealed Houston is home to the second-highest concentration of new home development in the nation. Over 9,000 new residential building permits were issued citywide in the first two months of 2026 alone.

The research team at ConsumerAffairs analyzed data on new building permits and new construction home sales across 150 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas in January and February of 2026. Cities were scored using two equally weighted metrics: total new residential building permits (sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Building Permits Survey) and total new construction home sales (sourced from Zillow) during the two-month period.

Texas is home to four of the top 10 cities with the highest rates of new home construction, and Dallas booted Houston from the top spot down to No. 2, with Austin (No. 7) moving up the ladder and San Antonio slipping into 10th place.

The report found 9,239 new building permits were issued and 3,535 new construction homes were sold across January and February in Houston. Only New York City and Dallas have issued more permits than Houston, but the city still holds the top spot for the highest number of new-build homes sold during the two-month stretch.

The Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro additionally ranks No. 2 for new home construction in a separate ranking across the biggest U.S. metros. Nearly 66,000 new residential units — single-family homes, apartments, and condos — were authorized in the greater Houston area in 2024.

Dallas overtakes Houston for the most new home construction
Dallas led the nation with the highest concentration of new home construction, the report found. Over 11,000 new building permits have been issued in Dallas during the first two months of 2026, and 3,009 newly built homes were sold during the same period.

ConsumerAffairs said Dallas City Council has spent the last year making changes to residential housing codes to fight the city's housing shortage, thus driving the boom in new housing development.

"Previously, buildings with more than two residential housing units had to comply with the International Building Code, adding obstacles and costs for developers," the report said. "The revised code allows buildings with up to eight units to be constructed with looser regulations."

The top 10 U.S. cities building the most new homes in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Dallas
No. 2 – Houston
No. 3 – New York City
No. 4 – Phoenix
No. 5 – Atlanta
No. 6 – Los Angeles
No. 7 – Austin
No. 8 – Washington, D.C.
No. 9 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 10 – San Antonio

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rent report

New report reveals how many Texans are paying too much for rent

Photo by Francesca Tosolini on Unsplash

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Millions of Texas renters, both current residents and new arrivals, suffer from wallet whiplash.

A new report from the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers shows 45 percent of the state’s renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Renters occupy more than 4.2 million Texas households, representing nearly half of the state’s residents.

Worse yet, 81 percent of extremely low-income households in Texas spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing, the report says. For that income group, Texas has a shortage of 864,000 affordable homes.

Thirty percent is the standard financial benchmark for spending too much income on rent, while 50 percent puts a renter in the “severely cost-burdened” bucket.

“To sustain growth and secure future prosperity, Texas will need more than 320,000 additional affordable homes [rented and owned] to address workforce housing affordability and meet the demands of a growing population,” says the report.

“Today, the state is creating thousands of new jobs,” the report adds, “but housing supply has not kept pace with demand, driving up housing costs and constraining continued economic growth.”

Not surprisingly, people who live in or move to three of Texas’ biggest metro areas get hit with the state’s highest apartment rental rates. Here’s Apartments.com’s list of the 10 most expensive places for renters in Texas, based on apartments whose average size ranges from 713 square feet in Austin to 771 square feet in Plano:

1. Frisco — $1,477 per month
2. Plano — $1,461 per month
3. Austin — $1,417 per month
4. Dallas — $1,413 per month
5. McKinney — $1,363 per month
6. Grand Prairie — $1,327 per month
7. Irving — $1,318 per month
8. Garland — $1,237 per month
9. Fort Worth — $1,217 per month
10. Houston — $1,183 per month

San Antonio boasts some of the lowest average rent among Texas’ 10 most affordable markets: $1,075 per month. Mesquite, a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, also fits into that category, with average monthly rent of $1,052.

Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott announced more than $114 million in grants to help develop or rehabilitate properties, providing more than 4,400 affordable rental units.

“As our state grows, we must ensure that Texans have access to the affordable housing they need to thrive,” Abbott says.

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housing boom

Houston booms as No. 2 market for new home construction in the U.S.

rent report

New report reveals how many Texans are paying too much for rent

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