Housing Slowdown?  Not in Texas!

Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin all remain among the top 10 in the nation for residential construction activity. A new study from Consumer Affairs ranks the top 30 U.S. cities building the most new homes.

In the first two months of 2025, more than 11,000 new building permits were issued in Houston. And Dallas issued 9, 800. This put them at #1 and #2 in the nation.  Austin issued nearly 3,900 permits. And just over 2,000 new building permits were issued in San Antonio.

The study analyzed also analyzed new homes sold in the first two months of 2025 across 150 large U.S. cities. Houston sold 1,1314 new homes. Dallas and San Antonio each posted 750 new home sales and Austin sold 500 new homes.

HB 24 Makes NIMBY Protests Harder

Texas lawmakers finalized a bill last week that loosens a little-known state law. The law guarantees homeowners the right to protest zoning changes in their neighborhoods.

House Bill 24 will make it harder for property owners in Texas to stop or stall new housing next door. At press time, it had just been sent to the governor’s desk. The bill, takes aim at a century-old law opponents dubbed the “tyrant’s veto,” reported KUT News in Austin.

The statute deals with the rights homeowners have to object to development near them. Current law states says owners of at least 20% of land nearby the proposed build site need to oppose amending rules about what can be built. Then, the city council needs more than a majority vote to pass the measure.  The bill now requires owners of at least 60% of nearby property to sign off against land use changes.

Starwood Buys 11 Master Planned Texas Communities for $800 Million

Communities purchased by Starwood Capital Group from global real estate investment manager Hines include 16,000 remaining residential lots and over 600 acres of commercial land. The properties are located across DFW, Houston and Austin.  Anthony Murphy, managing director at Starwood Capital called it, “a rare opportunity to acquire a large portfolio of mature communities with major infrastructure substantially completed and active lot sales to over 30 home builders.”

Among the 11 developments included in the purchase are seven in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. They include Wildflower Ranch in Fort Worth, Creekside in Royce City, Aster Park in McKinney, Northspur near Terrell, Myrtle Creek in Waxahachie, Furst Ranch near Flower Mounds, Redden Farms in Midlothian.  In the Houston Metro area, the purchase included Brookewater located in Rosenberg within Fort Bend County, Creekhaven south of Manvel in Brazoria County and Wildrye in Waller County.  And in the Austin metro area, the purchase includes Mirador in the Travis County city of Del Valle.

The Preserve in North Frisco is being deemed “The Highland Park of North Dallas”

More than 200 custom homes are planned at The Preserve, surrounding the PGA championship golf courses and Omni PGA Frisco Resort. The gated luxury neighborhood will feature homes priced between $3 million and $25 million. Builders include Alford Homes, Bella Custom Homes, Coats Homes, Endurance Homes, Faulkner Perrin Custom Homes, Hawkins-Welwood Homes, Shaddock Custom Builders & Developers, Sharif & Munir Custom Homes, Starside Builders and Ventura Custom Homes. 

The Preserve is part of the $10 billion 2,500-acre Fields project in North Frisco. The development is a collaborative and joint ownership project by The Karahan Cos., Hunt Realty Investments, Chief Partners and Cross Tie Capital. It will become a massive business, retail and residential hub, similar to Karahan’s $3 billion Legacy West in Plano.  And it will also be home top a new Universal Studios $550 million theme park.

Highland Homes and Tellus Group Will Soon Break Ground on 190-acre Residential Development In Prosper

Development begins this summer at Mirabella, located on the corner of University Drive and Custer Road. The first of 285 homes in the neighborhood plan will begin selling in late 2026. Huntington Homes, the luxury division of Highland Homes, will be offering homes in the community along with other builders TBA. The community will be gated with homes on its oversized lots estimated to start at $1 million.

Tellus is actively developing another Prosper community. Windsong Ranch is slated for more than 3,000 homes and ranked among the nation’s top-selling master-planned communities. 

Billingsley’s Huntington Park Will Add Thousands of New Homes, Apartments and Commercial Space in McKinney

McKinney’s City Council approved plans to rezone a 786-acre property on the city’s northwest side, immediately east of Prosper.   The successful bid to rezone the property brings the developer, Dallas-based Billingsley Co., closer to beginning construction on the development. It will be called Huntington Park.

Plans show 375 acres earmarked for single-family homes. 92 acres are slated for apartments. And 175 acres are allocated for commercial development. The rest of the property will be used for open spaces, floodplain and new roads.

Green Brick Invests in Land for Thousands of Homes in North Denton and Surrounding Counties

Green Brick Partners is banking on the extension of the Dallas North Tollway to G.A. Moore Parkway (FM455) to enhance access to the area and make it attractive for more homebuyers. For now, the area promises significantly better affordability than nearby cities such as Celina and Prosper. Green Brick has indicated home prices will start around $400,000 in the new developments.

In September, Green Brick purchased 557 acres along FM1385 in Pilot Point where it plans to build 2,200 homes.  Then in March, Green Brick unveiled plans to build another 2,100 residences in with the acquisition of 550 acres in the first phase of the Burks Ranch development.  Burks Ranch is situated along the boundaries of Cooke, Denton and Grayson counties. Trophy Signature Homes, a Green Brick Partners subsidiary, is the primary homebuilder in both developments. 

Centurion American Development Group is also active in the area.  A total of 3,000 single-family lots and 120 townhome lots are on the drawing board for Bryson Ranch, located on 1,050 acres between Celina, Pilot Point and Aubrey, along FM 1385. Other developers, including DFW Land Holdings LLC, continue to snap up land along the tollway extension for future neighborhoods and projects in northern Collin County and Grayson County.

Mesquite Undergoing a Renaissance Thanks to Mater Planned Developments

Exponential growth in the 1950s saw iconic retail and entertainment venues emerge in the East Dallas suburb of Mesquite. But by the 1990s Mesquite developed a reputation as a more blue-collar, working-class community, overshadowed by newer and more upscale Dallas suburbs such as Plano, Richardson, and Frisco.  However, since the late 1990s and early 2000s, the city has made a significant effort to revitalize and transform itself.

Solterra Texas by Huffines Communities is a transformative development helping change perceptions and bring fresh vitality to the city.  Spanning 1,400 acres in Mesquite, homes at Solterra range in size and style, with prices from $300-$700k. Many offer customizable options to suit everything from multigenerational living to remote work setups.   Solterra was named “Best Master-Planned Community of the Year” at 2025 McSAM Awards, hosted by the Dallas Builders Association.

The first 100 home sites were delivered this spring at Talia, another new-home community in Mesquite by The Nehemiah Company. The 612-acre community is located in southern Mesquite along I-20 near Forney.

Located in southeast Dallas but served by the Mesquite Independent School District, Lennar’s Caldwell Lakes will offer up to 1,600 homes priced from the low $300s.

1,000 More New Homes Coming to Rockwall

The Juniper community is a joint project between Rockwall-based developer Michael Joyce Properties and Canada’s Qualico Developments Inc. Located at the corner of John King Boulevard and South Goliad Street, it will cover 526 acres. The plan includes 885 homes anticipated to range from $600K to over $1.5 million. The Rockwall City Council approved plans for Juniper’s first two construction phases and a master plan for the development.  The full project is expected to take around 11 years and be constructed over six phases.

Approval was also granted for a zoning change request for the Erwin Farms development located east of North Country Lane and FM 1141.  The development by Dallas-based Skorburg Co. Erwin Farms encompasses just under a hundred acres and is projected to be completed in six years. Homes in Erwin Falls will cost between $700,000 and $1.2 million. They are projected to be move-in-ready the second quarter of 2028.

Corson Cramer Development’s Southside Hills project in Rockwall was also announced in March.  The 238-acre land acquisition will create 384 single family lots in the thriving city. There, home prices are expected to range from the $500s to more $1 million.

5,000 New Homes Part of Development Plan for Ferris

Cawley Partners is leading a 5,200-acre master-planned project in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Ferris.  20 mile south of downtown Dallas, Ferris is off of Interstate 45 straddling Dallas and Ellis counties.

The Cawley plan will create a large-scale mixed-use hub of residential, industrial and commercial space. The development could significantly reshape the region’s growth trajectory and attract billions in long-term investment. 

Rejuvenation Underway in Fort Worth’s Historic Southside

Selling prices for lots in Fort Worth’s Historic Southside are still several times what they were several years ago, but the community remains one of Fort Worth’s most inexpensive neighborhoods to build in. That strength has led to more speculative home building and land-banking by investors. 

The neighborhood is south of downtown Fort Worth. It’s located on the east side of Interstate 35W, bordered by East Vickery to the north, Rosedale to the south, and South Riverside Drive to the east. The historic neighborhood boasts many charming homes dating back to the early 20th century.

Houston

Metro Houston’s Growth Headed North in a Big Way—But Will Infrastructure be Ready to Support It?

Many fast-growing Texas cities (including North Texas’ Princeton. TX—named the fastest-growing city in the U.S.) have legitimate concerns about strains on water and sewage infrastructure as well as fire and police protection. Last August, the City of Conroe followed the lead of Princeton and others by enacting a moratorium on new development permits in the northern portion of the city.  Then in April and May Conroe city staff discussed a citywide moratorium.  But Conroe City Council voted unanimously to pause further discussion on a proposed citywide development moratorium for 45 days after it was announced that State Representative Will Metcalf and State Senator Brandon Creighton had successfully secured $15 million in the state’s budget to support water infrastructure in Conroe.

Since January, Montgomery County commissioners have approved plats for 20 new developments and the expansion of existing developments throughout the county.

New development with 2,800 Homes Coming to Baybrook Area

Midline, from Brookfield Residential and CDC Houston, Inc., will include 2,800 single-family homes across more than 1,000 acres in the southeast Houston Bay Area. Located in Harris County west of I-45 South between El Dorado Boulevard and Grissom Road, the development will sit between Baybrook Mall and Challenger 7 Memorial Park.

The first phase of the project will include 271 homes across six collections. Construction on the model homes and inventory homes should begin by the end of the year or in early 2026, with the first homes slated to be completed in the second quarter of 2026. 

5,102 SFH Lots Coming to Alvin’s Preservation Creek in Brazoria County

The Austin Bayou District in Brazoria County has allotted more than 14,000 acres for the development of new commercial and residential properties and secured its first development partner.

The city of Alvin and residential estate developer W Land Development broke ground on Preservation Creek, a new SFH community in the district.  Located off Hwy. 288, Preservation Creek’s 2900-acre master plan calls for 5,102 residential lots built around more than 1,100 acres of protected waterways, parks and trails. 

Read this article in Building Savvy Vol 3 2025