Ah, it’s a new year, fresh with promise and resolutions that haven’t yet been broken. And if you’ve resolved to buy a home this year, that’s another new experience. So why not buy a new new home? After all, you’ll get the latest designs, up-to-date appliances, minimal maintenance costs in the early years, and the satisfaction of knowing that no one else’s shoes have ground dirt into the carpet, and that no one has died in the master bedroom.
So how do you find these bastions of new construction in the U.S.?
Simple! Sort of. First, look toward those places that have roared back from the housing collapse and have lots of job growth.
“You have the markets where the population is moving, like North Carolina, Texas, and Florida,” says Robert Dietz, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders. “And some surprising mountain states that are simply growing and growing.”
But, of course, nothing is quite that straightforward. In other regions, such as those in coastal San Francisco and New York City, there’s simply nowhere left to build. And in the Northwest, strict land use requirements and high regulatory costs make it difficult for developers to obtain land to build.
So what’s a buyer hankering for a brand-new home to do? We looked at the 400 largest cities based on the percentage of for-sale homes that have been built since 2013. And lest Texas (the fastest-growing state in the nation) hog all the glory, we limited our list to just two cities per state to achieve some geographic diversity.
And, because plenty of folks prefer historic charm over new construction, we’ve figured out where the oldest homes in America can be found, too.
Got it? Let’s check out the newbies first, and then dive into some of the trends causing the building booms.
Construction boom in … Meridian, ID?!
Quite frankly, the No. 1 market for new construction was something of a shocker to us. But maybe it shouldn’t have been. Meridian, once a bedroom community west of Boise, became Idaho’s third-largest city in the blink of the eye. Its population has grown from less than 35,000 at the turn of the century to more than 84,000 as of 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. To keep up with that growth, about a third of Meridian’s homes were built in the past three years, according to our analysis.
The city is smack dab in the middle of Boise Valley, where more than 400 tech companies are based, according to nonprofit Idaho TechConnect. Add that to a relatively lower cost of living compared with other tech hubs, plenty of outdoor sports like hiking, mountain biking, and skiing, and Meridian has become an appealing place to call home.
“Meridian is going gangbusters,” says Realtor® Mike Turner, president of Front Street Brokers. “It’s located between the two biggest cities in Idaho, has plenty of jobs, and also has the space to grow.”
As a bonus, developers have kept new-home prices reasonable at around $290,000. That’s only $24,500 higher than an average resale home. Pretty sweet deal, right?
Texas: America’s largest population magnet
Apparently things haven’t changed much since the 1800s when Americans left their homes and painted the letters GTT (short for “Gone to Texas”) on their doors. From 2010 to 2015, Texas added 2.2 million people, according to the U.S. Census. The Lone Star State has the country’s second-largest economy, a growing energy sector spearheaded by oil and natural gas, and no income tax.
In east-central Texas, College Station (No. 3) is known as the home of Texas A&M University. But now it’s also the 15th fastest-growing city in America, according the U.S. Census Bureau. The College Station metro area is ranked as Texas’ best city for job creation, according to Texas A&M—the large, loyal employer has created mini labor booms around its footprints.
In fact, it’s growing so fast that the city has a hard time keeping up with its public services.
“Our infrastructures were not built for this kind of population growth,” says Colin Killian, public communications manager of College Station. “The city is playing catch-up. We have to expand infrastructures in water services, wastewater, roadways, and new schools.”
Northern Texas is also seeing a record-setting building explosion. In Frisco (No. 6), a Dallas suburb, nearly 16% of homes were built in the past three years. A one-mile stretch of the Dallas North Tollway has recently seen an estimated $5 billion in new construction. That also happens to include the new Dallas Cowboys corporate headquarters.
As proof of the growth, Frisco Independent School District opened four new schools this year, with another four slated for next year. Even by Texas standards, it’s a remarkable boom. Despite new homes coming onto the market, the home prices still won’t stop soaring. The median home price in Frisco is $435,000.
“Historically, the Dallas area has been an affordable market. Growth has always been modest, around 1% or 2% every year,” says Ted Wilson, principal of Residential Strategies, a Texas housing market research firm. “But in recent years the growth has been 9% to 10%. We just never gone through anything like that before.”
Cities that were built up by the oil rush
Texas isn’t the only state connected to the roller-coaster ride of oil prices. In North Dakota and Oklahoma, fracking has unlocked black gold–and a new industry with the potential for untold riches. That led to skyrocketing demand for housing as new workers moved in. But that was before the price of oil collapsed.
In Edmond (No. 3), a posh suburb of Oklahoma City and home to some well-paid oil professionals, one-third of the homes on the market were built in the past three years. Homes like this 2016 $3.95 million French chateau–style estate are clearly geared toward those with oil money. You can also find brand-new homes that have been sitting on the market since they were built in 2014.
In Fargo (No. 4), the biggest city in North Dakota, the total value of residential construction projects more than doubled in just four years, reaching $114 million in 2015. As a result, the number of available homes in the Fargo metro in November is 23% higher than last year.
The low oil price didn’t devastate Fargo’s real estate, but it dramatically slowed price appreciation. Since November, the median price has gone up only 4%, far slower than the 9% national growth.
“In Fargo, the local economy is diversified enough that the population is still growing,” says Dietz. “It’s just that as investment from the energy industry declines, construction will likely plateau going forward.”
Irvine, CA: Job-fueled population growth
Since the recession, Irvine (No. 7), with other cities in Orange County, has been leading the economic recovery in Southern California. While nearby Los Angeles has an unemployment rate of 5.1% in November, higher than the California average, Irvine has only 2.8% unemployment, according to the California Employment Development Department. That’s in part because it’s home to a slew of life science and IT companies. From 2010 to 2015, Irvine’s population grew by 18%.
“Luckily there is still some available land [in Irvine] to build new homes,” says Wallace Walrod, chief economic adviser to the Orange County Business Council. “The city of Irvine is open to new development as long as it’s planned.”
A poster city for the master-planned community, Irvine features landscape that’s defined by its manicured public spaces, uniform Spanish red-tile roofs, and beige homogeneity that date to the 1960s. New construction in Irvine is responsible for the bulk of housing creation in Orange County.
Irvine Co., which owns most of Irvine’s land, divides the land into separate villages and develops them in series. Newer villages like Portola Springs are located farther inland. FivePoint, another local developer, is moving forward with an ambitious project near the decommissioned El Toro military base that will include more than 9,500 residences when completed.
But what about the oldest homes?
To locate where the oldest homes for sale are concentrated, our data team ranked the biggest American cities by the share of for-sale homes that were built before 1900.
In New England, where the Pilgrims first settled, centuries of history are woven through the streets and the old Colonial homes of Boston; Manchester, NH; and Providence, RI.
The Midwest also boasts an interesting variety of homes built over a century ago. Most of them are found in long-established lakeside cities such as Chicago and Milwaukee.
Let’s take a stroll through the history of the U.S., shall we?
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