Building boom
5 Dallas-Fort Worth cities nail rankings among U.S. hot spots for apartment construction
When it comes to new construction, five Dallas-Fort Worth cities reign as multifamily meccas.
A ranking compiled by Lattice Publishing indicates Lewisville and Irving saw some of the country’s biggest spikes in planned construction of apartments from 2020 to 2021. The numbers for Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington also shot up during the same one-year period.
Nationwide, Dallas ranks fourth among U.S. markets for the most apartments under construction, according to RealPage Market Analytics. RealPage tallies 32,143 apartments being built in the Dallas area.
Lattice Publishing ranked small, midsize, and large cities based on the percentage change in the number of multifamily units authorized from 2020 to 2021.
On the list of small cities, Lewisville appears at No. 5, with a 1,469 percent jump in building permits for apartments from 2020 to 2021. Among midsize cities, Irving lands at No. 13, registering a 363.7 percent rise in multifamily permits during that period.
Meanwhile, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington posted big gains among large cities. However, their percentage increases fell short of those for Lewisville and Irving:
- Dallas ranked third among large cities, recording a 250.6 percent boost in multifamily building permits from 2020 to 2021.
- Fort Worth ranked 12th among large cities, recording a 90.1 percent boost in multifamily building permits from 2020 to 2021.
- Arlington ranked 14th among large cities, recording a 73.1 percent boost in multifamily building permits from 2020 to 2021.
Lattice Publishing notes that as the U.S. emerges from the pandemic, a promising sign for improving the availability of housing is an overall uptick in planned construction of apartments.
Multifamily housing “increases the density and availability of housing units in urban and suburban locations, and it is more efficient and cost-effective to develop than single-family stock,” Lattice Publishing says. “And with more people now returning to their offices — along with restaurants, bars, venues, and other amenities — denser housing closer to work and social attractions is regaining its appeal.”
Research conducted by Hoyt Advisory Services shows that through 2030, the U.S. will need to build an average of 328,000 apartments every year to keep pace with housing demand. That mark has been achieved just five times since 1989, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association.
