New-home construction on the rise, Austin Texas
After a cautious slowdown in new construction late in 2006 and early this year, Austin homebuilders are forging ahead, starting more than 1,100 more homes during the second quarter of 2007 than during the first quarter, according to a report from housing research group Metrostudy.
Still, the 4,132 new home starts logged last quarter remains 8 percent below the number of starts in second quarter 2006. The annual rate of new home starts, or the number of homes begun in the last 12-month period–is also 8 percent below where it stood this time last year, according to the study.
That’s due in large part to a significant reduction in starts on new homes priced below $200,000. Concerned over the size of the existing inventory and decreased buyer demand caused by tightening credit standards, volume builders have significantly curbed their speculative building in that price point. Meanwhile, new home construction in the $400,000 to $750,000 range jumped 66 percent during the last 12 months.
“During the last three years, starts in the $400,000 to $750,000 price range increased more than 23 percent,” says Eldon Rude, director of Metrostudy’s Austin division.