Housing recovery hits some areas – top growth in U.S. cities

Metros with the Most Construction Permits in 2011

1. Houston, TX – 31,271
2. Dallas, TX – 18,686
3. Washington, DC – 16,501
4. New York, NY – 13,973
5. Austin, TX – 10,239
6. Los Angeles, CA – 9,895
7. Phoenix, AZ – 9,081
8. Seattle, WA – 8,664
9. Atlanta, GA – 8,634
10. San Antonio, TX – 7,127

More permits were issued in the Houston metro area than in any other metro, by far. Four of the top ten metros were in Texas. But this list is dominated by large metro areas, and we’d expect bigger areas to have more construction activity. Looking instead at the number of permits issued per 1,000 existing housing units…here are the top metro areas by construction activity:

Most Construction Activity (per 1,000 existing units)

1. El Paso, TX – 15.36
2. Austin, TX – 14.49
3. Raleigh, NC – 13.66
4. Houston, TX – 13.55
5. Charleston, SC – 12.80
6. Dallas, TX – 11.26
7. Little Rock, AR – 10.53
8. Baton Rouge, LA – 9.51
9. Washington, DC – 9.44
10. Columbia, SC – 8.74

via – The Top U.S. Cities for New Home Construction – which includes cities with least construction activity

// Photo – mugley