Pace of New Home Sales and New Home Inventory on the Rise
Both the pace of new home sales and new home inventory are up according to the numbers reported for February, 2016. New home sales went up by 2% bringing the seasonally adjusted amount to 502,000. Standing new home inventory also moved upward slightly to a 5.6-month’s supply of homes meaning it would take this amount of time to sell off all of the standing supply of new homes for sale nationwide. New home inventory has struggled to 
rebound because of three factors: lots, construction workers and sub-contractors, and lending standards.
Lots available for building have actually been a problem for builders in pockets around the country as builders are ready to “get back to work” and build new homes for sale. The lack of supply of ready lots have them searching more rural locations or building completely different floorplans to accommodate certain lot plats.
Construction employment demand has skyrocketed as opportunities begin to be more and more prevalent because of the surge in new construction. Employees and sub-contractors seem to be now flooded with work, which leaves builders waiting on certain subs’ industries to come out to work on their new homes under construction.
Lenders have found ways to ease the home buyer’s woes by offering better standards of down payments with new FHA loan packages and rural development loans. However, the kink in the industry came in late October and the beginning of November, 2015, when the new Closing Disclosure was implemented for real estate closings. Banks, lenders, mortgage companies, and even title companies are on a fast learning curve to master the new system and get home buyers into their new homes fast.
In reality, it is better that the real estate industry is undergoing these types of struggles rather than a complete lack of demand and over 1.5 year’s inventory on the ground like it felt during the Recession. The lack of all of the items mentioned above are actually a good problem for new home builders to have. If you are interested in building a new, custom home in St. Tammany Parish, Contact Ron Lee Homes today to set up a meeting regarding new home plans and construction. Call 985-626-7619 or E-mail Info@RonLeeHomes.com to set up your appointment.
