Residential Permits Slowing Momentum For Some Parts of Collin County

How about that wild and crazy Collin County housing growth?

Developers are developing. Builders are building. Trucks are trucking. Workers are working.

But are they keeping up with demand? Residential building permits — a key indicator of housing growth — are showing the pains of a nationwide labor shortage, material costs, and supply-chain issues. Those factors are dramatically slowing construction momentum in most of Collin County.

In January, the number of building permits was down in some Collin County suburbs, according to Addison-based Tomlin Investments, which tracks new home construction in parts of North Texas while also being a developer.

Celina, Frisco, Little Elm, and Prosper saw the issuance of building permits fall sharply to start 2022 as compared with a year ago.

Residential building permits are issued for one- or two-family detached homes on individually platted lots. The permits are required for new construction to go forward.

Residential Building Permits | Tomlin Investments

Celina, a literal boomtown, experienced a 51 percent drop — from 151 permits to 309 in 2021. Frisco fell 48 percent, from 346 to 181. Prosper was down 44 percent (126 to 70) and Little Elm dropped 56 percent (187 to 82). McKinney experienced a 22 percent drop.

“I had a lady call me the other day begging to help her find a house in Celina or Prosper, either one,” Celina Mayor Sean Terry told NBC5. “Every builder she called, ‘we have a waiting list of 1,000 people,’ ”

On the other hand, Denton was up 171 percent, from 77 to 209.

Residential Strategies Inc. housing analyst Ted Wilson told the station that construction timelines are going from 130 to 140 days to 219 days.

M/I Homes plans to open a new community in Celina and can start only six homes a month with 2,000 people on a waiting list.

“To see Celina, Frisco, McKinney’s permits drop is not a surprise,” M/I Homes Area President Chad Tschetter told NBC5. “One, they don’t have as many lots on the ground right now, so we can’t sell as many homes and the supply chain is still a big problem for us.”