About 54 miles southeast of downtown Dallas lies Mabank, a sleepy rural town that has become a darling for homebuilders.
Mabank has seen about 350 residential permits in the past fiscal year, the Dallas Morning News reports. The latest is Dallas-based Harp Home Builders, which has started construction of homes on a 60-acre property southeast of the intersection of State Highway 198 and FM 3080. Harp plans to build 313 homes on the site — all priced between $250,000 to $300,000. The firm closed on the first 50 lots in July with plans to close on more every four months.
“We like Mabank because of its proximity to the Dallas market,” said Jamey Harper, who owns Harp Home Builders and parent company WJH Investment Cos. “We’ve noticed, especially since COVID, more and more families are migrating outside of the city to have more space.”
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Back in April, Camden Homes CEO Cyrus Zadeh boasted of “slab farming” and the company’s aggressive strategy to meet a housing shortage in Texas by building in places like Mabank.
If you think that commuting to Dallas from Mabank — two hours of driving per day — would deter buyers from a market like Mabank, think again.
“They’ve done it forever,” says Amy Weatheread, a real estate agent with Ebby Halliday who has lived in the Cedar Creek Lake area for 49 years.
People buying homes in Mabank want a slower pace of living, Harper told DMN. In 2020, Mabank had a population of about 3,700.
“We’ve really been able to progress and move forward with developments and bring new people to our community but still be able to maintain that small-town atmosphere, which is something that I’m pretty proud of,” said Bryan Morris, Mabank city administrator.
While Morris voiced concern that higher mortgage rates and rising costs could slow things down, he’s confident the town will continue its growth.
“It’s a small town, and it’s a close-knit town,” Weatherhead said of Mabank. “I wouldn’t doubt if it was someday like a little bitty Fredericksburg. That’s the culture it has: just hometown, friendly and everybody takes care of everybody.”
— Maddy Sperling