Northwest ISD trustees were updated on the district’s demographics report during their regular meeting Dec. 9. The district continues to be one of the fastest growing in North Texas and is forecasted to enroll more than 38,700 students by the 2029-30 school year, from 32,022 the 2024-25 school year.

The specifics

Bob Templeton, vice president of Zonda Education, shared several key points about residential development activity that included:
  • New home starts and closings
  • New neighborhood developments
  • Multifamily housing market trends
As of the third quarter of 2024, Templeton said Northwest ISD trailed only Prosper ISD in terms of annual new home closings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Northwest ISD had 3,071 closings for the quarter, whereas Prosper ISD had 3,490 closings. However, in terms of future lot activity, Templeton said Prosper ISD will fall out of contention for the top spot as they reach build-out, while Northwest ISD will continue to raise its number of future lot activity as new developments continue to come online. Templeton forecasted Prosper ISD having 10,698 future lots, while Northwest ISD will have 40,110 future lots.

Templeton gave the following district housing overview:
  • The district has 65 actively building subdivisions.
  • Within NISD, there are 31 future subdivisions in various stages of planning.
  • Of these, groundwork is underway on more than 8,200 lots within 15 subdivisions.
  • 472 lots were delivered in the third quarter.
Templeton highlighted several neighborhoods, including Madero, Pecan Square and Timberbrook, as some of the most active in terms of development activity in the district.

In terms of multifamily development, Templeton said that across DFW he is seeing lower occupancy rates, and the total occupancy rate across DFW is 87%.


“I don’t see that changing much since we have so much multifamily [development] under construction,” Templeton said.

He added rent rates have softened a bit—they’re down 2%-2.5% since a year ago.

In terms of multifamily specifics in the district, Templeton said the following:
  • There are more than 2,200 multifamily units under construction, 751 of which are single-family rental homes.
  • There are more than 6,200 future multifamily units in various stages of planning across the district, including 193 single-family rental units.
Put in perspective

Templeton provided the following key takeaways:
  • Groundwork continues record pace with over 8,200 lots in development.
  • The district has roughly 1,650 homes currently in inventory with approximately 3,900 additional lots available to build on.
  • Northwest ISD is forecasted to enroll roughly 46,300 students by the 2034-35 school year.