2022 Resolutions:
Communicate, Understand and Motivate
If we had a crystal ball, I don’t think we could have seen all the things that 2021 brought us, many that we never thought we’d see in our lifetime—lumber prices at $1,500 per thousand board feet, housing stock selling for as much as $100K over asking price and snowmageddon, to name a few.
In this issue, we look at opportunities and obstacles ahead as we reflect on a year of historically low housing inventory, rising costs and supply chain issues and a critical shortage of skilled labor. Though Texas faces all these issues, we’re still a beacon of hope and opportunity for the many, many people that continue to move to the Lone Star State. STORAGECafé, a nationwide self-storage search website, tracked the 25 most popular routes for people leaving California for Texas. Its data shows more than 23,800 Californians relocated to Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties in 2019 alone. Los Angeles County was the “main supplier” of new residents, followed by the San Diego and Orange counties. Why? A typical home in the DFW area was 52 percent cheaper than in notoriously expensive LA County, resulting in a list price gap of $438K. Living space is also larger in the Dallas Metroplex specifically, homes offer more than 650 square feet in extra living space compared to LA County.
Not only have Californians continued moving to Texas in droves, so have many California-based homebuilding companies, including our spotlighted Savvy Builder, Tri Pointe Homes. Some people will welcome change and fresh insights that the new buyers and new builders bring to our market. Others will wish for “the good old days.” Most of us must concur that our only choice is to continue to move forward and look for new opportunities that arise from the many changes we continue to experience.
