Population explosion

Massive new development will add 11,000 homes in well-to-do Dallas suburb

Celina is having a home-building boom.

Facebook/City of Celina

Celina is going to be under construction for a while. Work is set to start later this year on a 3,200-acre development that will supply more than 11,000 single-family homes and apartments to the fast-growing, affluent Dallas suburb.

Farmers Branch-based Centurion American Development Group says the Legacy Hills project will be built near Legacy Drive and Celina Parkway. If three people lived in each planned residence, that would boost Celina’s population by about 33,000 — which by itself would eclipse the city’s current population.

According to a news release, Rex Glendenning, CEO of Austin-based REX Real Estate, brokered the land acquisition for Centurion American and its founder, Mehrdad Moayedi. Celina Mayor Sean Terry is vice president of Centurion American, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“We’re planning for Legacy Hills to become the most sought-after address in Collin County,” Moayedi says in the release. “With an array of onsite amenities, a prime location, and ample open space, this development will be a true lifestyle experience for future residents.”

Highlights of Legacy Hills include:

7,000 single-family homes.
4,100 multifamily units.
100 acres of commercial development.
27-acre sports park.
Two 12-acre parcels for future Celina ISD schools.
Two seven-acre fire and police stations.
Network of walking trails with abundant amenities.
Seven amenity centers.
Championship golf course.

“Rarely does an opportunity to acquire a several-thousand-acre, master-planned mixed-use development with over four miles of frontage along the Dallas North Tollway and only 20 minutes away from Legacy Business Park present itself,” Glendenning says.

The single-family subdivisions will be developed by seven homebuilders: Ashton Woods, Beazer Homes, DR Horton, First Texas Homes, Lennar Homes, M/I Homes, and Mattamy Homes.

Each subdivision will feature an amenity center with a community swimming pool and playscape area.

Through May 31, fast-growing Celina issued 1,352 residential building permits this year, beating the much larger Frisco (1,283).

Projections show Celina’s population eventually will reach 378,000. The city estimates the current population at 28,000. With a population of a little over 209,000, Frisco is about 10 times bigger than Celina.

In January, a ranking from data provider HomeSnacks indicated Celina jumped 11 spots — from No. 14 to No. 3 — on the list of Texas’ wealthiest cities. Median household income in Celina sits at $124,375, according to HomeSnacks.

home-for-sale

millennial magnet

Dallas ranks among 15 hottest U.S. metros for millennial homebuyers

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Dallas is one of the 15 hottest destinations for millennials.

Dallas and its surrounding cities have already proved to be a magnet for millennials, and now a new national housing report has established the city as one of the 15 hottest destinations for millennials, whose local homeownership rate has soared since 2018.

The number of millennials who own their homes in Dallas has grown from 229,497 to 451,826 households over the last five years (96.9 percent), according to a new housing analysis from RentCafe.

The study compared homeowner growth rates versus renter growth rates of millennials — based on Pew Research Center's definition as individuals born between 1981 and 1996 — across 107 U.S. metro areas from 2018 to 2023.

Dallas ranked No. 15 in the overall list of U.S. metros that have seen the highest increase in millennial homeowners since 2018. About 47 percent of all Dallas-area millennials own their homes, with the remaining 53 percent renting, the report found.

"The top 20 metro areas with the greatest increases in Millennial homeownership are led by sunny regions in Florida and California," the report said. "Unexpected urban hubs such as Dallas, San Antonio, Philadelphia, and New York also made the list with ownership growth rates reaching 90 percent or higher."

Dallas also ranked 27th in the national list of cities with the biggest growth rates among millennial-age renters. The number of millennial renter households jumped from 465,560 to 507,416 in five years, a 9 percent hike.

About 5.3 million millennials have become homeowners over the last five years nationwide, RentCafe's analysts said, which represents a massive 74 percent increase in millennial-owned households. The growth rate of renters was much lower in comparison.

"At the same time, the number of millennial renters in the U.S. rose by a modest 5 percent, adding approximately 600,000 households," RentCafe said. "This brings the total number of millennial homeowner households to 12.4 million, close to the 12.6 million millennial renter households."

While the rate of millennial homeowners is on the rise, the same can't be said for Gen Zers. About 12 percent of all Gen Z households in Dallas-Fort Worth own their homes, while the vast majority are renters, a separate RentCafe study found.

Elsewhere across the state, Austin (No. 7) and San Antonio (No. 10) ranked among the top 10 U.S. cities with the biggest growth rates among millennial homeowners.

The top 10 U.S. metros with the highest gains in millennial homeowners are:

No. 1 – North Port, Florida
No. 2 – Lakeland, Florida
No. 3 – Jacksonville, Florida
No. 4 – Stockton, California
No. 5 – Oxnard, California
No. 6 – Palm Bay, Florida
No. 7 – Austin, Texas
No. 8 – Tuscon, Arizona
No. 9 – Deltona, Florida
No. 10 – San Antonio, Texas

rentcafe study real estate housing report millennials dallas