Texas booms with most new homes built in the U.S. since 2010, new report finds

welcome home, y'all

Archive photo

Housing markets might be stabilizing in most areas of Texas, but there's one sector that's still booming. A new housing report by RubyHome Luxury Real Estate has revealed Texas leads the nation with the highest new home construction rate.

The study examined property data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 American Community Survey, including the number of occupied properties and the number of homes built between 2010 and 2022.

Nearly a quarter (22.5 percent) of all occupied housing units in the Lone Star State have been built since 2010, the report found. That adds up to nearly 2.5 million homes out of a total 11 million-plus in the state.

Texas' new home construction rate was predictable, as the state had gained the most new residents between 2000 and 2022, according to a RubyHome spokesperson. That's another trend that doesn't appear to be slowing down in Texas, or in San Antonio for that matter.

"Residents of Texas are more likely to live in a new, modern property than any other state across the country," the report said.

For comparison, there were about 131.2 million recorded occupied households in the U.S., according to the 2022 Census survey. Over 15.7 million of those homes were constructed since 2010, which is nearly 12 percent of the homes across the country.

North Dakota fell behind Texas in No. 2, with less than 69,000 out of a total 331,481 homes built within the same time frame. New construction homes made up less than 20.74 percent of all of the housing stock in the midwestern state.

The top 10 states with the highest new home construction rates are:

No. 1 – Texas (22.5 percent)
No. 2 – North Dakota (20.74 percent)
No. 3 – Utah (20.65 percent)
No. 4 – Idaho (20.01 percent)
No. 5 – South Carolina (19.75 percent)
No. 6 – North Carolina (18.17 percent)
No. 7 – Nevada (16.74 percent)
No. 8 – Delaware (16.49 percent)
No. 9 – Colorado (16.30 percent)
No. 10 – Tennessee (15.73 percent)

From Your Site Articles

Photo by Dillon Kydd on Unsplash

Here's how much San Antonio homeowners will spend to boost curb appeal this year

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Sure, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but that doesn't apply to a vast number of luxurious homes in this city. It's probably safe to say that many locals (or tourists) have been guilty of window shopping San Antonio's most gorgeous houses while cruising around town.

In a recent study, home services websites Thumbtack and Nextdoor asked more than 1,000 homeowners to set tangible values to curb appeal: both how much they care, and what kind of exterior home improvements have the most influence. It also ranked cities on how much they spend.

The study found that San Antonio homeowners will spend up to $4,705 on many "small curb appeal investments" – such as replacing the front door, installing outdoor lighting, pressure washing the driveway, or painting their fence.

But if a homeowner really wants their property to stand out, major projects like installing solar panels or maintaining a perfectly manicured front yard are surefire ways to catch people's attention and admiration. So much so, that 82 percent of survey-takers said investing in landscaping is a substantial improvement, and 73 percent believe a well-kept lawn dramatically improves curb appeal.

"At its core, curb appeal is a homeowner’s first presentation of themself to the neighborhood," the report said. "An individual home’s curb appeal impacts the whole neighborhood — and, as a result, can build relationships or even create tensions on the block."

Costs, of course, are driven up with the scale of the projects. Cost estimates for garage door or gutter replacements can ring up at $1,310, with San Antonio residents budgeting up to $14,582 for their "medium-sized" home improvement projects.

The study designates some projects as "large curb appeal investments": things like painting the entire exterior of a house, replacing property fencing, or installing a sprinkler system. Estimates for multiple large-scale projects can cost up to $27,000 in San Antonio.

Nextdoor's Head of Revenue, Heidi Andersen, said in the report that a home's curb appeal can show the owner's "deep investment" in their neighborhood, and can improve their fellow neighbors' pride within the local community.

"For many neighbors, the neighborhood is a gathering place, a central hub, and most importantly, a place they come to for genuine connections, support, and shared experiences among its residents," said Andersen. "Every day, neighbors everywhere are transforming houses into homes, and streets into welcoming avenues for their communities."

While San Antonio didn't make it into the ranking of the top 10 cities with the best curb appeal, Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 5, while Austin ranked No. 2 behind frontrunner Atlanta, Georgia.

The top 10 cities with the best curb appeal are:

No. 1 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 2 – Austin, Texas
No. 3 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 4 – Washington, D.C.
No. 5 – Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
No. 6 – Baltimore, Maryland
No. 7 – Seattle, Washington
No. 8 – Orlando, Florida
No. 9 – Tampa, Florida
No. 10 – Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina

The full report can be found on thumbtack.com.

Ad Placement 300x100

Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

New holiday pop-up shop tops this week's 5 hottest San Antonio headlines

This week's hot headlines

Editor's note: It’s that time again — time to check in with our top stories. From a holiday pop-up shop to twinkling Hill Country towns, here are the five most-read stories over the past seven days.

1. Holiday pop-up store lights up with 3 San Antonio makers. For San Antonians looking to shop small this holiday season — while still finding unique gifts — a new type of retail store downtown offers both. The Holidays on Houston Street Pop-up is a retail store that sells products from local small businesses and artisans, who run the shop themselves.

2. This is the average holiday shopping budget for a San Antonio household. Santa and his elves get busier with every passing year, but sometimes even Kris Kringle has to use his black card to get the job done. And according to a new study by Wallethub, Santa's gonna be working overtime to fulfill the orders for residents of San Antonio and New Braunfels this holiday season.

3. 'The twinkliest town in Texas' and 6 other Hill Country locales become Christmas wonderlands. Throughout December, the Hill Country rolls out the twinkle lights and garlands to give city slickers some Christmas razzle-dazzle. Unpack a cozy sweater, cue a playlist, and fire up the sleigh.

4. What’s brewing in San Antonio: Vista Brewing and Growler Exchange launch new locations.Here's our latest roundup of everything that's brewing in San Antonio, including a second Growler Exchange and a new home for Vista Brewing San Antonio.

5. Hill Country's famous Salt Lick BBQ smokes out new location in Fredericksburg. A storied Central Texas barbecue joint is heading for the hills. Driftwood institution the Salt Lick BBQ is set to open a new outpost in Fredericksburg along the Highway 290 Wine Trail.

San Antonio sparkles and shines as No. 5 most festive city in the U.S. for 2023

on the nice list

San Antonio homes, businesses, and special events that go all out to deck their halls for the holidays have not gone unnoticed. San Antonio has been named No. 5 most festive city in the United States.

A new study by home services provider Thumbtack puts San Antonio at the top of the nice list this year. The report compiled data from millions of Christmas-related home projects across all 50 states between October 2022 to November 2023 to reveal their list of the most festive cities in the nation.

San Antonio is on the rise, after the city previously ranked No. 10 in the 2022 report. And while Thumbtack specifically focuses on home holiday projects, San Antonio residents certainly can glean inspiration from the city's many festive displays, and several surrounding Hill Country winter wonderlands.

Texas cities dominated the top 10, with Austin (No. 1), Dallas-Fort Worth (No. 2), and Houston (No. 3) ranking just ahead of San Antonio to claim the top three most festive U.S. cities. Rounding out the top five is Seattle, Washington in the No. 4 spot.

The average cost to hire a holiday lighting specialist, Thumbtack says, is between $168-$300, with other requests like wrapping outdoor trees tacking on an additional cost. If San Antonians are looking to outsource their exterior home decorating to a specialist, they're already past the peak time to hire one, Thumbtack says. Americans most frequently hang their holiday lights and Christmas decorations during the Thanksgiving weekend, according to the report.

"Whether you’re looking to make your home a brightly lit winter wonderland or simply looking to add a few festive touches to your home’s exterior — sprucing up your home’s exterior with lights is an exciting part of getting into the holiday spirit," said Thumbtack design expert Morgan Olsen in the report. "Hiring a holiday lighting specialist can help you avoid stress (and unwanted injuries) so you can focus on enjoying the season."

Thumbtack's top 10 most festive cities in the U.S. for 2023 are:

No. 1 – Austin, Texas
No. 2 – Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
No. 3 – Houston, Texas
No. 4 – Seattle, Washington
No. 5 – San Antonio, Texas
No. 6 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 7 – Phoenix, Arizona
No. 8 – Tampa, Florida
No. 9 – Denver, Colorado
No. 10 – Orlando, Florida

Director Todd Haynes tackles inappropriate relationships in May December

Movie Review

Director Todd Haynes has pushed buttons throughout his career, starting with his acclaimed short film, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, which used Barbie dolls to illustrate the late singer’s anorexia battle. He’s at it again with his latest, May December, which tackles the idea of highly inappropriate relationships through a lens that itself has the potential to be upsetting.

Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), an acclaimed actress, has traveled to Savannah, Georgia to shadow Gracie (Julianne Moore) in preparation for a movie in which Elizabeth will play Gracie. That movie tackles the beginnings of Gracie’s relationship with Joe (Charles Melton), when he was a 13-year-old seventh grader and she was a 36-year-old pet shop worker. The shocking tryst resulted in much controversy, a child, and a jail stint for Gracie, but the couple professed their love for each other through it all.

Twenty years later, they’re still together, having added two more kids to their family, children who happen to be the same age as Gracie’s grandkids from her previous relationship. Elizabeth wants to experience it all, bouncing from person to person to try to understand exactly who Gracie is and was. Striving for authenticity in her performance, however, soon takes her down a Method acting rabbit hole.

Directed by Haynes from a script by Samy Burch, and loosely based on the story of teacher Mary Kay Letourneau and her 12-year-old student, Vili Fualaau, the film treats Gracie and Joe’s relationship in a relatively straightforward manner. It details a benign life in which they have the love of their kids and some neighbors, even if they occasionally get a box full of poop on their doorstep.

It’s the arrival of Elizabeth that sends things spiraling, as her various conversations trigger responses from both Gracie and Joe that they seem not to expect. Haynes alternates between being serious and being campy, with not enough of each for either for them to seem to be the goal. The score gives off a less-than-serious vibe, and an early scene in which a mundane thing is treated as if it were happening in a soap opera points in the campy direction, but those type of moments are few and far between.

In casting Portman as the obsessive actor, Haynes may have been trying to offer up echoes of her Oscar-winning role in Black Swan. It’s no small irony that the person who comes off as the most craven in such a sordid story is the actor who everybody wants to be around, not the woman who became a pariah because she is a sex offender. In that and other ways, Haynes upends expectations, keeping the film interesting even through its slower moments.

Portman and Moore are ideal for their respective roles, Portman because she has a knack for portraying confidence and guile, and Moore due to her ability to manipulate at will. Melton, best known for playing Reggie on Riverdale, pales in comparison due to his less showy role, but he complements the story well. Special notice goes to Elizabeth Yu as Gracie and Joe’s daughter Mary, who shines in her limited scenes.

The story of May December contains elements that will creep certain viewers out, whether it’s the subject matter itself or the performances of the two great lead actors. Haynes has a way of getting under the skin with his storytelling, and this film is yet another great example.

---

May December is now available on Netflix.

Photo by François Duhamel / Courtesy of Netflix

Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore in May December.

View All Listings