Austin-area home starts up 13.1 percent

​​​AUSTIN – Home construction continued to boom in Central Texas in first quarter 2018, with builders starting work on 13 percent more houses than in the same quarter the previous year, according to figures by Metrostudy.

The 4,064 home starts in first quarter was a 13.1 percent increase over the first three months of 2017.

On an annual basis, builders started construction on 16,457 houses during the 12 months that ended in March 2018.

“There’s no evidence of any slowing in demand, especially for homes with base prices below $300,000,” said Vaike O’Grady, Austin regional director for Metrostudy.

The median price of a new home in the Austin metro area was $288,489 in the first quarter, up from $287,161 in the same quarter of 2017.

“New home median pricing has remained fairly flat over the past few years,” O’Grady said. “Builders are responding to the demand for more affordable homes by creating ‘value’ product lines with smaller, more efficient home designs.”​