New-Housing Patterns Shift in Sun Belt

Housing growth within the Sun Belt is shifting from Texas to the more traditional markets in California, Arizona and Florida, according to Chicago Title Insurance Co.

By measuring growth through a ratio between the number of new units built and the number of existing households, it found that last year, Austin, Tex., was the nation’s leader with 9.83 new units built for every 100 existing households.

This was followed by Phoenix, 9.10; Fort Myers, Fla., 8.50; Colorado Springs, Colo., 8.38, and Melbourne-Titusville, Fla., 8.25.

In California, Riverside/San Bernardino, moved up from 4.10 in 1983 to 6.11 last year, and San Diego rose from 2.86 to 4.43 in 1984. Nationally other gaining markets included Nashville, Tenn., 5.57; Salt Lake City, 4.56; Charleston, S.C., 5.48, and Memphis, Tenn., 2.65. The greatest declines were in markets linked to energy, such as Houston, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Okla., and Denver.