Construction leader sees momentum building

Construction leader sees momentum building The Horizons Home Show, the premier event of the Buffalo Niagara Builders association, is back on the calendar this year from Aug. So these are the first builders in the new Spaulding green subdivision. one area will have patio homes, one area will have what they call quad-unit condominiums, which are attached condominiums. Ultimately, when the subdivision is built out there will be over 400, near to 450 lots. And I think the banks are hungry for new house mortgages, although it may be a little bit more difficult to qualify. But people that are looking at new construction, that is usually not the problem. Q: What is the relationship between the existing home and new-home markets? A: I think what we are finding is that with the interest rates being where they are is, just talking to John Leonardi (of the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors) that they're finding traffic is back, houses are selling. Q: How is Horizons coming along? A: it's shaping up to be one of the larger shows that we've done. And the banks were struggling and the mortgage industry was struggling, but most of that has settled down. And our committee chose Spaulding Green as being a brand new subdivision, where you're not going to be such an infringement on an existing community. And Clarence has been a good market for builders. Q: Horizons was not held last year. in the probably$400,000 range, and then single-family homes probably approaching $750,000 range. And we did not have a good [host] site that was available. Q: How does the Buffalo Niagara housing market compare to other elements of the country? A: I think our market really did not suffer such as Florida, Arizona, Nevada, many of those markets where there was a lot of speculation. And it was almost like the perfect storm, whereby builders who had their own land banks were choosing to try and build on their own properties. Q: What are the local market conditions like for new house construction? A: I would say most of my builders are finding that traffic is better than it's been in the last couple of years and interest is very high. Q: Building moratoriums were an issue a few years ago. But when new construction goes into a community, you expand your tax base. The midmarket housing for a family was almost not happening. Q: What other features do customers want in new homes? A: I think energy efficiency has been one of the things people are looking at, and the technological advances of the automated house are all things that people are looking at. And I think you're seeing a number of people that are working out of their homes, so high-speed internet becomes important, and the entertainment things that can be coordinated into a house are things that people are looking at. and it will be a tailor made event, because it's all in one new community called Spaulding green in clarence. Construction leader sees momentum building Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 04/06/2012