Conroe - Montgomery Edition - July 2022

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BUILDING SMALLER

Wood did not return requests for comment before press time July 12. In contrast to the city’s move to create larger lots, data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construc- tion shows homeowners across the country are increasingly purchasing homes on smaller lots—those less than 7,000 square feet. Data shows 33% of homes sold in 2011 across the country were on lots spanning less than 7,000 square feet compared to 45% of homes sold in 2021. Although Conroe’s larger min- imum lot size remains under the 7,000-square-foot mark, developers in the Conroe area said homebuyers are demanding smaller lots to keep homes aordable and more manage- able to maintain. “The market demand dictates what builders and developers are going to make available in order to stay in busi- ness; that’s a smaller-lot product,” said Matthew Reibenstein, owner of AR Homes-Rural Design Build and secretary of the Greater Houston Builders Association. Montgomery interim City Admin- istrator Dave McCorquodale said Montgomery is also reassessing higher- and lower-density residential areas to keep up with residential mar- ket demands. The city requires lots to be at least 75 feet wide, or about 9,000 square feet, he said. “Cities are always kind of in a bal- ancing act of trying to respond to the market pressures that the developers face, but at the same time, we’ve got to protect the quality of life for the existing residents,” he said. Conroe increases lot size A motion to increase the mini- mum lot size from 40 feet wide to 50 feet wide in Conroe failed May 12

The median lot size of new single-family homes built has decreased nationwide since 2009 as well as within the southern U.S..

from 2009-21 from 2009-21 22.55% 21.61%

KEY:

12K

U.S.

Southern U.S. (includes Texas)

10K

"CITIES ARE ALWAYS KIND OF IN A BALANCING ACT OF TRYING TO RESPOND TO THE MARKET PRESSURES THAT THE DEVELOPERS FACE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE’VE GOT TO PROTECT THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THE EXISTING RESIDENTS." DAVE MCCORQUODALE, MONTGOMERY INTERIM CITY ADMINISTRATOR, ON LOT SIZE CHALLENGES

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

2009

2010

2011 2012 2013 2014

2015

SOURCE: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS FEBRUARY 2021 STUDYCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

but passed two weeks later as Wood replaced outgoing Council Member Raymond McDonald, who had voted against the lot change. Maddux said development guide- lines are often revisited during elec- tion years. “If you go back traditionally in all the elections, it’s a political topic. It’s been ran on in [2018, 2020] and now [2022] to where it’s almost an item that comes up—trees and lot sizes— in an election year,” Maddux said. “I don’t want to be the city that goes back and forth with change.” The city decreased its minimum lot size width to 40 feet in 2018 to pro- vide more aordable housing amid an inux of apartments, Maddux said. “I want there to be aordable hous- ing in Conroe, and the 40-foot lots can do both—it can make for retirement [with a] half-a-million-dollar-home or $300,000 home and then on a 40-foot

lot you can have a starter home that’s aordable living,” he said. Reibenstein said he believes a 10-foot wider lot will cause the cost of a home to increase, making home- ownership out of reach for some residents. Average property values in Mont- gomery County spiked 52.83% from 2010-20 while median household income did not increase at the same rate, Community Impact Newspaper previously reported. “Despite the fact that there’s more people looking for homes more than ever right now, the issue of course … is we have to go from the mentality of aordable housing to housing aord- ability,” he said. He dened housing aordability as whether people can bear the cost of purchasing a home. Bill Ellison, owner of ASGI Homes based in Conroe and developer of

Marie Village—an aordable commu- nity in the works o Crocket Martin Road—said he believes adding 10 feet to lot size width raises the price about $100,000 for a homebuyer between the additional land cost and the likely larger home on the lot. A February 2021 study by the National Association of Home Build- ers found that every $1,000 increase in the price of a home in the Hous- ton-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metro area causes 4,533 families to be priced out of homebuying. “For every thousand dollars a house may go up in price, there’s a number of people who can no longer aord that home,” Ellison said. Finding a balance Census data shows builders nationwide are catering to demands for smaller lots. The median lot size of new single-family homes built

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