Texas housing shortage: understanding the real causes and land solutions
Housing shortage in Texas: a hot topic
The housing shortage in Texas has become a hot topic, making headlines in newspapers and political debates. Every year, more than 500,000 new residents settle in the Lone Star State, attracted by its economic dynamism, job opportunities and advantageous tax system. Yet, despite the vastness of the territory - Texas is twice the size of France - the real estate shortage continues to fuel rising prices.
How can we explain this paradox? How can a country with so much space not have enough housing? The answer lies in a distinction that is often overlooked: we're not talking about gross available surface area, but about land that is actually ready for construction. Professionals speak of "shovel-ready land": plots of land that have been serviced, approved by the authorities, connected to networks and ready to receive real estate projects.
In Dallas, Houston or Austin, the same observation is made time and time again: it's not acres of land that are in short supply, but the ability to rapidly transform raw land into buildable plots. In other words, what is lacking in Texas today is not space, but the time and infrastructure required to make land viable.
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The housing shortage in Texas: a very real crisis
Texas is experiencing record population growth. Between 2010 and 2023, its population grew by more than 5.3 million people, the equivalent of an entire state like Colorado added in barely a decade. This trend continues apace: every year, more than half a million new residents settle in Texas, attracted by a still-competitive cost of living, favorable taxation and a booming job market.
Major metropolises such as Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio account for the majority of these new arrivals. Austin, for example, has seen its population grow by almost 30% in ten years, driven by the massive establishment of technology giants such as Tesla, Oracle and Apple. Dallas-Fort Worth attracts both families and businesses, taking advantage of its strategic location and international airport. Houston, the energy capital, remains a preferred destination for engineers, while San Antonio stands out for its dynamism in healthcare and cybersecurity.
But this rapid growth has a downside: infrastructure and housing stock are not keeping pace. While demand is exploding, supply is struggling to keep pace. Construction times are lengthening, permits are piling up and housing prices are soaring. According to the Texas Real Estate Research Center, median home prices have risen by more than 40% between 2015 and 2023, despite the global economic crisis and rising interest rates.
In other words, Texas demographics are a real locomotive, but they put the real estate market under constant pressure. The housing shortage in Texas is therefore not an exaggerated media perception: it reflects a structural imbalance between the massive influx of new residents and the actual capacity for housing production.
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Contact LandQuire today and find out how to invest in shovel-ready land in Texas.
Demand outstrips supply
This massive influx is putting enormous pressure on the housing market. Developers can't keep up, and prices are soaring, particularly around major cities like Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.
In Austin, symbol of the "Silicon Hills", median home prices jumped by nearly 60% between 2012 and 2022. The rental market has not been spared: a one-bedroom apartment that cost $900 per month in 2015 now easily exceeds $1,600. In Houston, historically more affordable, rents have risen by 30% over the same period. Dallas-Fort Worth is showing a similar dynamic, driven by the arrival of corporate headquarters and tens of thousands of new jobs. Even San Antonio, long perceived as a "cheaper" city, is experiencing a rapid rise in rents.
This phenomenon accentuates inequalities. Modest households struggle to find housing, while the middle class finds itself in direct competition with skilled workers from California and New York. As a result, some historic residents are forced to move further and further from the city center to find affordable housing.
According to the Texas Real Estate Research Center, at least 200,000 additional homes a year would have to be built to meet current demand. However, the pace of construction remains well below that target, trapped by administrative constraints and a lack of serviced land. Herein lies the crux of the problem: the housing shortage in Texas is not linked to raw space, but to the difficulty of delivering truly habitable units, in attractive, well-serviced areas.
Comparison with France
To give you an idea, Texas covers 695,000 km², while metropolitan France is "only" 551,000 km². And yet, in France, we don't talk about a lack of space to house our population. The Texas paradox is therefore not a question of surface area, but of the time it takes to make land suitable for building.
In practice, nobody builds a house on an isolated field, even if the state is huge. Developers and investors need plots that are connected to the grid, validated by local authorities and located in attractive areas. This is what we call "shovel-ready" land.
The difference is enormous: a raw lot is a plot of undeveloped land, sometimes agricultural or in an undefined zone. Conversely, a shovel-ready plot is already equipped with roads, water and electricity, and has all the necessary administrative authorizations. A developer can start his project immediately, without fear of delays due to permits or zoning.
The lack of housing in Texas can be explained by this slow transformation of land. Millions of acres exist, but only a small fraction is actually available for construction. As long as the supply of serviced land does not keep pace, the housing shortage will persist despite the vastness of the territory.
Texas housing shortage: why space isn't enough without shovel-ready lots
The term "shovel-ready " literally means "ready to dig". It refers to a plot of land that has gone through all the administrative and technical stages required before a house or building can be built on it. In concrete terms, this means that all the necessary approvals have been obtained: zoning compliant, environmental studies completed, permits issued and connections to water, electricity and sewerage networks planned.
The difference with raw land is considerable. Raw land often has no building permits, no road access and even fewer connections. It can take years and hundreds of thousands of dollars of investment before it can be built on. A shovel-ready lot, on the other hand, can be bulldozed from day one.
Let's take a concrete example: in Austin, a developer who buys a raw lot has to wait an average of 12 to 18 months before starting work, while the permits are sorted out. With a shovel-ready plot, on the other hand, this period is reduced to just a few weeks. The savings in time and profitability are obvious.
It's precisely this difference that is fuelling the housing shortage in Texas. Acres of land exist, but only a small portion is directly usable. This discrepancy between theoretical and actual supply creates artificial pressure on the market, partly explaining the soaring property prices in major Texas cities.
Raw land vs. viable land
- Raw land: a single parcel of land, often agricultural or unzoned.
- Shovel-ready plot: plot equipped, connected and authorized by local authorities.
A property developer doesn't buy a vacant field hoping to build directly on it. They need land that has been validated and secured, where bulldozers can start work without fear of administrative blockage or legal recourse. Time management is a major issue: every month's delay means extra costs, capital tied up and sometimes the loss of investors.
Buying raw land carries many risks. Without clear zoning, a project can be refused by the county. As for the absence of an environmental study, a late discovery can freeze the worksite. And without a network connection, costs soar, making the operation unprofitable. This is why developers prefer shovel-ready sites, even more expensive ones, as they guarantee a controlled schedule.
In reality, it's these invisible steps that slow down construction in Texas. Obtaining a permit can take from six months to two years, depending on the county. Drainage studies, essential after storms, often impose additional delays. What's more, every piece of infrastructure has to be planned: access roads, water supply, electricity, fiber optics.
This is precisely where the housing shortage in Texas lies: not in the lack of space, but in the inability to deliver serviced land quickly. As long as this bottleneck persists, demand will continue to outstrip supply, and real estate prices will remain under pressure in major metropolitan areas.
👉 Case in point: in Austin, obtaining building permits can take an average of 18 months. In Houston, lead times are shorter, but infrastructure constraints (water, roads, drainage) also slow down projects.
The real brakes on housing construction in Texas
Housing shortage in Texas: the administrative burden
Each Texas county imposes its own schedule of approvals. Between zoning, environmental studies and various permits, the delays are lengthening. A project can get bogged down in bureaucratic red tape for months or even years.
There are many administrative steps involved. The first step is to check that the land is compatible with current zoning. Then comes the environmental impact study, mandatory in many counties, which may reveal the presence of protected species or wetlands. Finally, each building permit requires successive approvals, sometimes with very long lead times.
Let's take a concrete example: in Travis County, where Austin is located, the average time to obtain a development permit often exceeds 12 months. In neighboring Harris County (Houston), the procedure may be a little quicker, but is still marked by a high degree of regulatory complexity. For foreign investors, these local rules are a real headache.
This administrative burden is part of the reason for the persistent shortage of Texas housing. Even when a plot of land looks attractive, it can remain unusable for years while all the necessary permits are obtained. As a result, developers proceed cautiously, which slows down the production of new housing and increases the pressure on large Texas cities.
Essential infrastructure
Before laying a foundation stone, you need to bring :
- Access roads,
- Water and electricity networks,
- Sanitation systems,
- Drainage studies (essential after storms).
💡 Average servicing cost: between $50,000 and $100,000 per acre depending on location.
Incompressible time
Even with money and expertise, certain deadlines are unavoidable. Technical studies, public consultations and legal deadlines impose a pace that no one can accelerate. Specialists refer to this as "metabolic time", a notion that describes the minimum time required for a project to pass through all the mandatory stages.
Every county in Texas has its own timetable, and no investor can ignore it. For example, a drainage study after heavy rains requires several months of validation. Similarly, a public consultation on a zoning change cannot be cut short: the law imposes a minimum timeframe to allow residents to give their opinion.
Even major real estate development groups have to meet these deadlines. Some major projects in Dallas and Houston have taken two to three years just to get through the administrative approval phase. Meanwhile, demand continues to grow, prices rise and tensions in the market worsen.
This incompressible time is a direct cause of the housing shortage in Texas. As long as the administrative process remains rigid, it's impossible to deliver housing at the pace demanded by population growth. In other words, even with significant capital and technical expertise, the market can't adjust fast enough to absorb the arrival of 500,000 new residents a year.
According to data from the Texas Demographic Center, the population of Texas is growing by more than 500,000 a year.
How land specialists break the deadlock
This is where specialized players like LandQuire come in. Their role is to :
- Identify strategic sites,
- Acquire these plots,
- Take care of all administrative formalities,
- Financing and supervision of servicing,
- Resell turnkey lots to property developers.
For developers, it's a considerable time-saver. For investors, it's the guarantee of an optimized plot of land.
👉 Internal link: Contact LandQuire
Opportunities for French investors
Why is this topic of particular interest to the French?
- Texas remains fiscally attractive: no state income tax.
- Its economic growth is among the strongest in the United States.
- Land yields are higher than in Europe.
Case study
A raw plot of land bought for $15,000/acre can see its value rise to $40,000/acre once it has been serviced and approved. The added value comes less from the surface area than from the preparation work carried out. This value-creation process illustrates why shovel-ready land has become a strategic asset.
For an investor, this transformation represents a potential increase in value of over 150%, regardless of market fluctuations. The key is not just to own land, but to own land that can actually be used. This is exactly what distinguishes a simple plot of raw land from a highly profitable asset.
To put it plainly, the invisible, time-consuming and complex work of servicing explains why the shortage of Texas housing persists: the space exists, but only a minority of plots can be rapidly transformed into livable neighborhoods.
According to a report by the Texas Association of Realtors, land values in Texas can vary widely depending on their level of preparation and location.
Outlook: towards a more structured land market?
- Technologies such as GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and AI help to identify land with potential more quickly.
- Public-private partnerships are on the increase to speed up construction.
- The "hotspots" of tomorrow: Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, but also secondary cities such as New Braunfels or Killeen.
FAQ - Housing shortage in Texas
Why is there a housing shortage in Texas?
Because population growth far exceeds annual construction capacity, despite the vastness of the territory.
What is a shovel-ready plot?
A shovel-ready plot is a plot of land that has already been serviced, approved by the authorities and is ready to be developed without further delay.
Is it possible to invest remotely in serviced land in Texas?
Yes. Thanks to specialized companies like LandQuire, it's possible to invest from abroad in complete security.
Conclusion & Contact
The housing shortage in Texas is no urban legend. It's not space that's lacking, but the speed and complexity of the process to make land buildable. In this demanding ecosystem, specialized players like LandQuire play an essential role: transforming raw plots of land into "shovel-ready" lots, ready to welcome new residents.
Their mission is clear: to identify high-potential land, analyze its feasibility, and then take the administrative and technical steps required to make it viable. This involves managing zoning, supervising environmental studies, obtaining permits and financing essential infrastructure (roads, water, electricity, sanitation).
Once these steps have been completed, the land is delivered on a turnkey basis to property developers, who can then launch their construction projects directly. This process considerably reduces lead times, secures investments and makes the market more fluid.
For foreign investors, it's a strategic opportunity: instead of getting lost in the local bureaucracy, they benefit from an experienced partner who masters the subtleties of the Texas market. LandQuire acts as a gas pedal, narrowing the gap between growing demand and the actual supply of housing.
👉 To find out more or explore a land investment opportunity, contact LandQuire today.