Interest rates and building supplies are pricier than before, and nationally new home starts are down.. The Covid Lockdown helped bring on a greater demand for home builders, and Mike Dishberger of Sandcastle Homes says home builders are still trying to catch up as they try to keep up with costs. When he meets with other builders, " My comment to other builders is sometimes, "Boy, I'm glad I only had 2 price increases this week. Of course they're BIG price increases. And they're on EVERYTHING --- from a mirror to the cost of my cleaning person."
"Builders cannot keep up. There's a shortage of contractors, and of course a shortage of supplies. But --- we're still catching up. I've got all these sales from the Spring -- and we still have a ways to go!" Dishberger says labor is hard to find... "The labor that is working is not working all day long. When it's 100+ degrees outside, they will come in very early in the morning, work till...maybe...noon. Then come back to work maybe around 5:00."
Interest rates and building supplies are pricier than before, and nationally new home starts are down. The Covid Lockdown helped bring on greater demand for home builders, and he says home builders are still trying to catch up and keep up with costs.
Dishberger adds that the most new home builds are in the Acres Homes area...north of Tidwell.
Still, Harris County's average building permit is 20% lower than the national average.
Here is a summary of the data for Harris County, TX:
Average value per unit authorized: $169,715
Total value of units authorized: $5,974,645,123
Total units authorized: 35,204
Single-family units as a proportion of total: 60.4%
For reference, here are the statistics for the entire United States:
Average value per unit authorized: $218,791
Total value of units authorized: $380,036,187,000
Total units authorized: 1,736,982
Single-family units as a proportion of total: 64.2%
photo: Getty Images
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