REAL ESTATE NEWS
Dallas nearly tops list of U.S. cities with most new homes being built
More people would rather buy a new construction home than a pre-existing one.
Dallas is accommodating its housing needs by building more homes than nearly all other U.S. cities, a new report has found.
According to a new ConsumerAffairs housing report, Dallas has the second highest rate of new home construction in the nation for 2025. The research platform analyzed new building permits and new construction home sales from January and February 2025 in the 150 largest U.S. cities.
Houston was the only city to outperform Dallas with the No. 1 biggest boom in new home construction this year.
Dallas is certainly keeping busy trying to keep up with the demand for housing, issuing more than 9,800 building permits during the first two months of the year. Dallas also had the fifth-highest rate of new home sales, totaling 741 homes during the same period.
The city is keeping pace with consumer trends: According to recent study by the National Association of Home Builders, more than three in five homebuyers would prefer to purchase a new-construction home over an existing one, the ConsumerAffairs report says.
Newly built homes in Dallas were on the market for a median price of $450,000 in February, which was more expensive all other Texas metros included in the top 10. However, the city has recently approved housing code changes to make purchasing a home more affordable through "smaller-scale residential development."
"The revision will allow up to eight dwelling units to be built using residential codes; previously, any structure with more than two units had to comply with the International Building Code, which is more complex — and therefore more expensive for builders to meet," the report's author wrote.
Elsewhere in Texas
Houston dominated all other housing markets with the highest growth rate in new building permits, totaling more than 11,000 permits during the first two months of the year. The city also leads with the highest rate of new construction homes sold during the same time period, with more than 1,300 sales.
ConsumerAffairs says Houston is the only major U.S. metro that doesn't implement zoning laws, meaning housing density is not directly regulated and communities don't need to be separated by "use type." Many rules that are in place are in favor of high density housing, the report added.
"The absence of these laws has contributed to Houston’s infamous sprawl, but it’s a boon for developers and homebuilders, who have far fewer restrictions to navigate when constructing new homes," the report said. "After 1998 reforms to the city’s development ordinance lowered the minimum lot size for single-family homes from 5,000 to 1,400 square feet, more than 25,000 new homes were developed on these new, smaller lots between 1999 and 2016."
San Antonio (No. 8) and Austin (No. 9) also earned spots among the top 10. ConsumerAffairs said the rise of artificial intelligence is playing a key role in fast-tracking development opportunities in the state capital.
"After a 2022 audit found that it took an average of 345 days — more than 11 months — to review a building application, the city began a pilot program using AI to review building plans and flag them for inconsistencies between construction applications and Austin’s building rules," the report's author wrote.
Austin may be one of the original pioneers to implement the technology, and it appears other major cities are following in the Texas Capital's footsteps. After several wildfires devastated Southern California in January 2025, the city and county of Los Angeles launched a new program using AI to help rebuild housing in the metro area.
The top 10 cities with the highest rates of new home construction in the U.S. are:
- No. 1 – Houston, Texas
- No. 2 – Dallas, Texas
- No. 3 – Phoenix, Arizona
- No. 4 – Atlanta, Georgia
- No. 5 – New York, New York
- No. 6 – Charlotte, North Carolina
- No. 7 – Orlando, Florida
- No. 8 – San Antonio, Texas
- No. 9 – Austin, Texas
- No. 10 – Tampa, Florida
