Struggling real estate markets in the South are set up for a comeback

Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI Homebuilders once loved the Sun Belt. The warm, welcoming states in the lower half of the US offered ideal conditions for those in the business of selling new homes: good jobs, low taxes, vast suburbs, and a steady stream of movers . When housing demand took off in 2020, builders saw bigger dollar signs and began cranking out new construction across the Sun Belt at a feverish pace. Lately, though, the region has brought them nothing but heartache . No states better encapsulate the housing headspin of the past half-decade than Texas and Florida. The boom times, which lasted until mid-2022, were wild: hordes of moving trucks pulling into balmier climates, buyers racing toward ever-higher bids, homes flying off builders' websites sight unseen. As quickly as the fever built, though, the comedown proved equally jarring.