12 Texas Towns Where Brand New Homes Are Sitting Empty May 2026

Builders in Texas are literally paying people to buy houses. Rate buydowns to 3.99%, $40,000 in cash incentives, lease-back programs... and they STILL can't fill these brand new homes. I visited 12 Texas towns where entire subdivisions of finished, move-in ready homes are sitting completely empty. One town banned all new construction because the sewers couldn't handle it. Another saw new home prices drop 27% in under a year. And in South Austin, there's a neighborhood so abandoned that locals call it the zombie town. This is what happens when builders bet on a boom that already ended. 📊 KEY STATS (May 2026): • Texas has ~141,000 active home listings (~10 months of supply) • Net domestic migration into Texas dropped ~70% from the pandemic peak • 30-year mortgage rate: 6.47% • 35% of builders nationwide cut prices in June 2026 • 62% of builders used sales incentives (15th straight month above 60%) 🏠 TOWNS & BIGGEST NUMBERS: • Celina — New-build prices down 27% from July 2024 peak • Forney — Median down 21.8% year over year • Princeton — City passed a moratorium on new construction (sewers at capacity) • New Braunfels — Supply jumped from 2.5 to 11.4 months in ONE year • Prosper — 12.6 months of supply, 54% of listings cutting price • Kyle — 12.6 months of supply, 71% of listings with price cuts • Jarrell — ~1,400 quick-move-in homes sitting available • Melissa — Prices down as much as 20% • Hutto — Largest home value drop in Williamson County • Leander — Average value down ~15.5% (partly mix-shift) • Anna — $1.5 billion Sherley Farms development still being built • Manor — Flagged as Austin-area foreclosure cluster 💬 Which town surprised you the most? Drop a comment — I read every one. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly deep dives on the best (and worst) places to live in America, smart real estate moves, dream retirement spots, and budget-friendly living. #texas #realestate #housing #housingmarket #texasrealestate #newhomes #emptyhouses #housingcrash #affordablehousing #movingtotexas #dallas #austin #sanantonio #houston #dfw #texashomes #homebuying #realestateinvesting #housingbubble #2026