Sunbelt metros have led the United States in terms of housing production, thanks in part to pro-growth policies that streamline the permitting process, promote housing density, and encourage infill development.
According to a new report from the George W. Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative, 13 of the 15 most pro-growth metros between 2010 and 2023 are located in the Sunbelt. Among them are familiar names like Raleigh, Charlotte, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Jacksonville.1
Equally interesting is how this growth is taking shape. While urban redevelopment in proximity to city centers takes place routinely across Sunbelt cities, the bulk of new development is taking place in exurbs.2
These far-flung residential neighborhoods, which lie beyond even a city’s suburbs, are appealing to developers for their abundance of cheap (and virtually unlimited) land. For prospective residents, exurbs are attractive because they feature homes containing larger floorplans, sleeker finishes, and larger yards than equivalently-priced suburban residences.
It’s difficult to overstate the explosion in exurban residential growth. Georgetown, an exurb about 30 miles north of downtown Austin, expanded from about 67,000 residents in 2020 to over 107,000 by mid-2025, a cumulative increase of 58.5%.3
