Here's How Much It Costs to Own a 3D-Printed 'Fortress' Home in Texas

Though U.S. mortgage rates are now at their lowest level in 15 months , home prices are still high.

As the U.S. faces a shortage of 4.5 million homes , construction company Icon is using 3D printing technology to mass-print houses — and it's wrapping up the final properties in a 100-home, 3D-printed community in Georgetown, Texas.

Icon uses a 45-foot-wide 3D printer and fills it with a combination of concrete powder, water, sand, and other materials. The printer then pipes the mixture, layering it until it stacks up to form a house.

Related: I Designed My Dream Home For Free With an AI Architect — Here's How It Works

The project to build 100 of these 3D-printed homes in Georgetown, Texas, started in November 2022 and is slated for completion by the end of the summer, according to a Reuters report .

The homes are single-story, three to four-bedroom structures that take up 1,500 to 2,000 square feet.

Each one costs between $450,000 and $600,000. In comparison, the median listing home price in the area was $499,900.

The exterior and interior walls of each home are made out of 3D-printed concrete, which Icon says can hold up in extreme weather.

Icon says that 3D-printed homes have several advantages over traditionally made ones. The company claims that the concrete materials make the home soundproof, energy-efficient, and carbon-friendly.

The homes also take less time and money to build—one human crew and one robot could replace five different human crews, the company says .

Icon has sold about 25 of the homes in the community so far. One resident told Reuters that the house "feels like a fortress" capable of withstanding a tornado.

Besides 3D-printed homes, Icon is also testing an AI architecture bot that can churn out floor plans for a dream home.