Dan Haglund 

It’s a boon for home building in Moorhead. And specifically, single-family homes.

Since January, single-family home starts have more than doubled the pace of the past three years in the city.

Through August, there have been 81 new houses either started or completed, which calculates to just over 10 houses per month. That far outpaces the previous three years, 2022-24, in which home starts have averaged 4.2 per month.

The valuation of the 81 Moorhead home starts in 2025 totals $24,335,358, or an average of $300,436 per house, according to statistics compiled by the Building Industry Association of the Red River Valley based in Fargo.

The previous four years, 2021-24, saw Moorhead with 242 single-family home starts (60.5 per year) with a valuation of $65,684,989 ($271,425 per house).

Kristie Leshovsky, Community Development Director at the City of Moorhead, said that the housing starts wouldn’t be happening if people didn’t want to move here.

“We’re really trying to focus attractions to our community,” Leshovsky said. “Park spaces, things for people to do and go. Also, you can’t have any building without the construction industry. The builders that we have been really great for Moorhead.”

Leshovsky cited a 2023 Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Council of Governments (MetroCOG) study that really looked at housing through the greater metropolitan area. The study found that Moorhead needed about 3,200 housing units in the next 10 years.

“So we’ve really been trying to focus on making sure that we are providing the environment and the tools that are needed to make that happen,” Leshovsky said.

One home-buying incentive in Moorhead, she said, is a two-year tax-deferral on purchases.

Federal interest rates were lowered by a quarter of a percent on Sept. 17, the first such rate cut this year. Lower rate generally mean good news for those in the market to buy, as mortgage payments drop as well.

Leshovsky said this interest rate drop may help those who are in starter homes right now, and looking to upgrade or buy newer or bigger houses.

Looking toward the near future, with the potential massive fuel processing plant in the southeast and White Earth casino tentatively planned for east of the city, there could be an even greater need for houses soon.

“We feel like we are in a position to continue growing Moorhead, based on the plans that we have in place,” Leshovsky said.

She said growth planning has been put in the forefront in the past few years, just for this reason.

For total building permits in 2025, which includes single-family homes, twin homes, townhouses, duplexes, multi-family buildings, new commercial, residential remodels, public and miscellaneous, Moorhead has had 682 permits with a total valuation of $86.7 million.

In Dilworth, there have been five single-family home starts this year, with a valuation of $1.25 million, or $250,000 per house. In the previous four years, Dilworth had 30 single-family home starts (7.5 per year) with an average valuation of $313,493.

For total building permits this year, Dilworth has 47 with a valuation of $12,949,465.

Hawley has had two single-family home starts this year with a valuation of $830,000, or $415,000 per house. Hawley’s permits total 12 with a valuation of $2.3 million.

Barnesville has had one single-family home start this year with a valuation of $300,000. Barnesville’s permits total 94, 73 of which are residential remodeling permits, with a total valuation of $2.99 million.

Within the city of Fargo, there have been 278 single-family home starts this year with a total valuation of $77,322,310, or an average of $278,137 per house.

In West Fargo, there have been 68 single-family home starts this year with a valuation of $29,872,876, or $439,307 per house.

Fargo’s total building permits through August of this year total 1,177 with a valuation of $406.9 million.

West Fargo comes in with 338 total permits with a valuation of $60.1 million.

Another city on the North Dakota side that has been booming is Horace, just a few miles south of West Fargo. There have been 103 single-family home starts in Horace this year with a valuation of $36,664,665, or $355,967 per house. Total building permits in Horace are 296 with a valuation of $76.1 million.

And even with such massive numbers, Horace is actually slowing down this year. In the previous four years, 2021-24, that city has had 852 single-family home starts (213 per year) with a total valuation of $249.2 million ($292,582 per house).

This year’s grand total single-family home starts for the primary cities (Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo), bordering cities (Dilworth, Horace) and neighboring cities (Barnesville, Casselton, Colfax, Harwood, Hawley, Kindred, Mapleton, Oxbow) is 416, or 52 per month. The total valuation is $152,910,328, or $367,572 per house.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development, single-family housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 890,000 units in August, a decrease of 7.0 percent from the revised July figure, and a 6.0 percent decrease from August 2024.

This figure is a component of the total privately-owned housing starts, which was 1.307 million in August.