DFW Near Top in Commercial Construction Starts
DFW: Commercial construction in North Texas is near the top of the leaderboard among regions across the country. Dodge Data & Analytics says in a new report that DFW recorded upwards of $3 billion in commercial and multifamily projects in the first quarter of the year. Only New York City was higher, with $5.2 billion in commercial construction project starts during the same period. Across the country, commercial projects during the period rose to over $85 billion, a 6% increase. North Texas didn’t fare as well. The starts in DFW during the first three months of the year were down 23% from the first quarter of 2022 and it was the only region in Texas that saw fewer starts from Q1 2022. Last year, North Texas had more than $16 billion in commercial project starts. Among other Texas cities with increases in projects in the first quarter were Houston, with $2.1 billion, and Austin with $1.4 billion. Across the country, Chicago had a nearly 130% increase at $3.1 billion in construction starts and the Phoenix area, at $1.5 billion in starts, was down more than 50%.
TEXAS: The median sales price of homes across the state hit $326,800 during the first quarter of the year, up less than 1% from the same period last year. That’s the word from Texas Realtors and its 2023-Q1 Quarterly Housing Report. It also says that the days on the market before going under contract averaged 64 days, compared to 27 days in the first three months of last year. Just under 73,000 homes were sold across the state ending in March, down 17% from a year ago. Texas Realtors reported that half of those homes were in the $200,000 to $399,000 range. It also said that inventory increased from just over one month to nearly three months. The Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University says that North Texas and the Houston area saw slight home price gains in February, but that Austin saw a decrease of nearly 5% from January and more than 12% from a year ago.
U.S.: Millennials have now attained another distinction. The digital natives, those born between 1981 and 1996, are still the slowest demographic group to go from renter to homeowner, according to a new Apartment List Millennial Homeownership Report. It says that by age 30, only 42% of millennials owned their homes. That’s compared to 51% of Gen Xers who reached homeownership at age 30; 51% of boomers and nearly 60% of those octogenarians and older. Currently Gen Xers have a nearly 70% homeownership rate. Those over 80 have a 77% homeownership rate and leading the pack are boomers with 78% homeownership. Apartment List says that a quarter of the millennial renters in its survey said they had dim hopes of homeownership anytime soon.
DFW: A Fort Worth developer wants to build a mixed-use project near the intersection of Lemmon and Oak Lawn avenues in an area that once housed a La Madeleine restaurant, among other businesses. Trademark Property Co. is seeking zoning approval to build a seven-story, 415-unit luxury rental community with a corner restaurant. The project would encompass nearly 440,000 square feet. The property once was home to numerous businesses and residential units before the HEB grocery chain began acquiring parcels in the block. Trademark Property has been involved in various projects throughout the Metroplex, including the development of Victory Park near downtown Dallas; the Galleria Dallas shopping mall off LBJ Freeway and Dallas Parkway in North Dallas; and the Lincoln Shopping Center off Interstate 30 in Arlington.
MIAMI: Legendary alpine skier Lindsey Vonn wants a cool $6 million for a hot Miami Beach property that she bought just a few months ago. Vonn and her boyfriend, actor and entrepreneur Diego Osorio, bought the quarter-acre property in a gated Normandy Shores island just last year. The four-bedroom, five-bath home was built in the 1950s but has since been renovated numerous times. It now stretches across 3,000 square feet complete with hardwood and Italian tile floors. Among the home’s features is a great room that connects to a kitchen with high-end appliances. The primary bedroom includes a large walk-in closet, a sleek bath with dual vanities, tub and a shower surrounded by glass. It also leads outdoors to a pool situated in a tropical paradise setting. The home that overlooks a canal also includes a dock that can handle a 48-foot yacht. Vonn is the holder of more than 80 World Cup victories and her boyfriend is the founder of Lobos 1707 tequila. Vonn still owns a home in Beverly Hills.