Sixteen of the twenty cities with the most housing development relative to their size are in the southeast (excluding Florida) or Texas. This includes the rapidly growing resort and retirement centers along the Carolina coast, the manufacturing and business centers in the Carolina piedmont area and the hurricane rebuilding region on the Gulf Coast, including Houston.

Houston is by far the largest single family housing market. Dallas, Atlanta and Phoenix have fallen well behind. Houston largely escaped the rapid run up in home prices earlier in the decade because of its builder friendly zoning and permitting practices. Houston homeowners have relatively few problems now with adjustable mortgage rate resets and plunging home prices. New homes for New Orleans refugees and the booming energy industry are also contributing significantly to strong home demand.

Outside the Southeast, the list includes Las Vegas, Bismarck ND, Sioux Falls SD and Columbia MO. Las Vegas remains on the list because of the strength of its luxury condo construction in the Casino district. This housing is sold as second homes to frequent casino visitors. The balance of the as Vegas housing market is exceptionally weak. Rapid home building in the three small farm center cities is due both the strong farm economy and the success in attracting manufacturing and service industry jobs from more expensive cities elsewhere in the country.

Dallas and Houston trail only New York City on the list of top multi-family markets. Multi-family permits have nearly doubled since 2005 in contrast to 50-70% declines in 2005’s hottest condo and apartment markets. New York City is still the top market even without the extra 15000-16,000 June permits to beat an adverse rule change. NYC permits will be declining with the deeper cutbacks expected soon in the city’s financial markets. Permits are up from a year ago in many college and oil patch towns that escaped both the 2005-06 housing boom and the worst of the ongoing economic recession.

New Orleans, Buffalo and El Paso are the only large cities with more residential construction now than at the peak of 2004-06 housing boom which bypassed these cities. Each of the smaller cities on the list has a unique source of job and income growth. Many are college town with more stable jobs or oil or coal towns with rising energy industry employment.

Atlanta leads the list of cities with the largest drop in housing permits from the peak in the housing boom two years ago. Excessive inventory is a bigger problem than declining home prices. Excepting the Texas cities, the other hard hit markets have experienced price declines that are causing a postponement in home purchases. Southwest Florida and Las Vegas/Phoenix will be the last markets to recover because the collapse of the local housing markets has led to significant local economic recessions.

For more information, please see US Metro Housing Markets – October 2008 – Cities 1-100.