Redfin Reports Austin, Raleigh and Other Popular Sun Belt Metros Lead the Nation in Homebuilding

(NASDAQ: RDFN) — Sun Belt metros are leading the way when it comes to building new homes—and they need them, with scores of buyers moving in from other parts of the country, causing inventory to dwindle and prices to surge, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

Austin, TX had 31.1 single-family building permits per 10,000 people in the first quarter, the most per capita of any major U.S. metro. It’s followed by Raleigh, NC (30.7), Jacksonville, FL (29.2), Nashville, TN (26.6) and Charlotte, NC (22.9).

Five other Sun Belt metros round out the top 10: Phoenix (22.7), Houston (22.4), Orlando, FL (20.3), Dallas (18.5) and Las Vegas (17.2).

For multifamily properties, the top 10 list is split between Sun Belt metros and northern metros. Austin leads the pack again, with 26.1 multifamily building permits per 10,000 people in the first quarter, followed by Jacksonville (19.9), Salt Lake City (16.7), Orlando (12.7) and Denver (12.6). Seattle (11.9), San Antonio, TX (11.5), Richmond, VA (11.5), Minneapolis (11.1) and Charlotte (11) round out the top 10.

All in all, 49 of the 53 U.S. metros with more that 1 million residents issued more single-family building permits per capita in the first quarter than they did on average in the 10 years prior to the pandemic (2010-2019). Thirty-eight of them issued more multifamily permits.

Homebuyer demand has started cooling, housing supply is declining at a slower pace than it was at the peak of the pandemic and sales of new homes are down. But the number of homes for sale remains near all-time lows and monthly mortgage payments are near their record high, partly due to mortgage rates that have risen from roughly 3% to over 5% in recent months. Building more homes is one of the best ways to ease the affordability crisis.

“If there had been enough homes at the start of the pandemic, housing costs might not have skyrocketed the way they did over the past two years,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “The government should support homebuilding with things like subsidies and upzoning even as demand pulls back so the housing-supply hole starts to fill in. There still aren’t enough homes to meet the pace of household creation, and we need to be more prepared when demand inevitably picks back up.”