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…
