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The Builder’s Corner
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With all the controversy surrounding the housing industry right now, there is
still good news here in the Carolinas.
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Some businesses prosper when the market is up and some when the market is down.
The state of the building industry is better right now than it has been in the
last 5 – 6 years for the Home Buyer.
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In the past, supply and demand in this country dictated the market. Today the
market is driven by supply and demand throughout the world.
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For instance, concrete pricing is not forecast to be lowered in the USA because
World demand is greater than the supply. Other materials that are not projected
to come down in price include copper, plumbing fixtures, electrical material and
fixtures, as well as metal products used for tie downs, strapping, and clipping
for high wind load engineering.
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Prices for all of the above are driven by Third World countries that are in the
midst of a building boom as they try to catch up with the United States and the
prices are not expected to drop.
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The Good News on the home front is that lumber prices have dropped by approximately
25-30% over the last 18 months and have stabilized. This is a result of the timber
that fell during Hurricanes Rita and Katrina creating a surplus in the U.S. market.
However, this surplus is temporary and is expected to be gone by mid-2008 when, once
again, lumber prices will begin to climb.
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Currently, we also find sheet goods such as sheetrock, plywood, and sub-floor material
from U.S. mills are down 25 – 30% due to the slowdown in building over the last 18 months.
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Approximately 78 million Baby Boomers are forecast to retire between 2008 and 2022, of
which 18 million are projected to settle somewhere in the Carolinas. Land prices have
fallen between 10 – 20% and are predicted to remain at current levels for the next 6 – 12
months. Interest rates are down. For these reasons, we feel that Fall 2007 – Summer 2008
will be an ideal time to take advantage of the best savings in building a new home.
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We’re excited about this new feature on our website and we hope that you found the
information useful. Visit our “Ask the Builder” section for real-time questions
from consumers and answers from the Builder.
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